The Demon, the Dancer and the Betrayer
by Dirge of Silence
Summary: What if Naruto was saved from a life of being weak and hated. Adopted from Bardad101. Sadistic Naruto! Deidara Naruto!
1. Prologue: Introductions

Prologue I: Arrival

(A/N) This is an extreme AU, featuring so much OOCness that if you like you're characters to act like they do in manga, you're probably going to bleed out if you read it. So don't. And remember, no flames or useless comments like:

"Belch." = talking

"_Belch._" = thinking

**"Belch." **= Jutsu / superior being

_**"Belch." **_= Superior beings thoughts

A boy ran through the streets of Konoha, a grin plastered to his face. His bright blond hair waved in the breeze as he tightly held an object to his chest. For the first time in his life, since he was born five years ago, he had received a birthday present.

Normally his birthday was a time of fear and pain for him, of darkness and despair. But this year, nothing could penetrate his happy little bubble. Not a hurled rock he caught, nor several adults trying to trip him. He had a birthday present, and he wanted to show the one person who just might care. He quickly ran inside the tall tower as he turned the corner, rushing past the ninjas in the hall.

"Hokage-jiji! Hokage-jiji!" Naruto Uzumaki burst through the door leading to the office of the Sandaime Hokage, and the only person Naruto truly trusted. The Hokage, unsurprisingly, had someone in his office, but he always found time for the hyperactive blond. The man in the chair sighed.

"Yes, Naruto? Someone didn't hit you again, did they?" The Hokage's question startled Naruto. On this day? Never!

"Nah, no way! Someone gave me a present!" He held the small box out to the startled Hokage.

The grizzled Sarutobi frowned slightly. That was unexpected. Normally he had to send out ANBU to guard Naruto on his birthday, and he had never recieved a present except from him.

"May I see it, Naruto?" The Hokage leaned forward and casually plucked the plain box from Naruto, ignoring the blond's cry of protest. He attempted to open it, but it appeared stuck shut. "Have you managed to open it yet?"

Naruto shook his head. "The nice man left before I could ask. He looked really happy."

The Hokage turned to his guest. "Sir, what do you make of this box?"

Naruto focused on the man in the chair for the first time. He was a bit taller than the Hokage and rather... effeminate. His blond ponytail arced up over and behind his head, and went almost halfway down his back, with a lock of hair obscuring his left eye. "No problem, un." The man leaned back and began poking the box on various sides, before holding it up to his ears and shaking it. "It's a remote detonated bomb, un. I could recognize that sound anywhere, un. Why would someone give it to him, I wonder?"

The Hokage paled. Naruto began to cry. The man fiddled with the plain box for a few minutes. "Done, un. Its disarmed now." He handed it back to the Hokage and got up. "Is that all, un?"

The Hokage was shaking in fury. "Yes, Deidara-san, that will be all." As the blond man left, Sarutobi turned to comfort a sobbing Naruto.

**That night**

Naruto sniffed slightly as he walked down the darkened streets. He still couldn't believe that someone would fake giving him a present to try to kill him. He would show them all. He would be Hokage. "Believe it!" he shouted, and began to run back to the orphanage.

Unknown to him, however, he was being watched. From the alley across the street, a pair of chuunin grinned at eachother. This would be far to easy. They rose from their position and silenty shadowed the boy down the first alley he came to. As Naruto almost reached the far end, one chuunin broke into a dead sprint, flipping over the stunned blond and landing in front of him, kunai in hand. "Going somewhere, demon?"

His partner spoke from behind Naruto. "This is for all we have lost at your hands, fox." He drew a kunai as well and clubbed Naruto over the head with his other fist. "Take him to the safehouse. If we can force it to confess that it is the Kyuubi is in control, they'll erect statues in our honor. If not, we kill the lying demon. We have been guaranteed three days by the council. Let's make them proud."

**The next morning**

The Sandaime Hokage was in an utter rage. He was livid. Someone had dared kidnap Naruto! But that wasn't the worst. The worst was sitting before him, spread around the council chamber.

"Hokage-sama, the council simply does _not _find sufficient cause to devote as much effort as your asking to retrieve the boy. A team of tracker ANBU or jonin? For the demon brat? You must be joking." The speaker was amazingly old, walking on a cane, with half his face wrapped in bandages. A black haired man at the end of the table snorted. "Is there something you wanted to say, Shikaku?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Danzo, we all understand how much you detest the boy, but approach this logically. What if its a rival village? We can't afford to let a child that knows as much about the village as he does spill all the beans to Iwa or Kumo."

Danzo rounded on the pineapple haired man. "And what exactly would the demon-spawn know that could endanger us? He's not even a ninja!"

Shikaku began ticking off the list from his fingers. "He has used numerous routes throughout the city we didn't previously know existed. He has direct access to the Hokage. We _know _he's managed to discover the tunnel system under the city, which is supposed to be one our most tightly guarded secrets, on his own, so there is really no telling how much physical knowledge he holds of the cities layout. He could also easily be brainwashed into hating us and turned against us. How would that do for you Danzo? Do you want a repeat of that day?"

The Hokage intervened before Danzo could reply. "Thank you Shikaku. Have any of the council changed their minds?" He silenty crossed his fingers. If three of those against Naruto changed, then he could send out a team.

A pink haired woman from the civilian part of the council raised her hand slowly. "The Haruno's change their vote to retrieving the boy. That knowledge is valuable."

A scarred man sitting near Danzo raised his as well. "The Torture and Interrogation changes their vote as well. We know how easy it would be to turn someone like him into an enemy of Konoha." He didn't mention that it would be the village's own damn fault, which the Hokage thought was very tactful. Silence reigned.

Finally, just before Danzo called the vote to close, a medic-nin stood up. "The Department of Health changes their vote. The tunnel systems run directly beneath the hospital."

The Hokage sighed. That was one fight over. As the Hokage walked out of the room, Danzo smiled in victory. Everything was going according to plan.

The Hokage slammed his fist into his desk, leaving a splintered hole. "Damn you Danzo."

He had begun going through the records of current team listings that were suited for this mission. He had to assume the kidnappers were at least chuunin level, and would conceal themselves accordingly.

Shockingly, however, suddenly all capable tracking teams had begun long term assignments the day before, most of which were assigned by Danzo. Their was really only one person capable in the village right now. _"No, two might be!"_

The Hokage quickly sent messengers to the people he suspected were Naruto's last hope.

It was a mere fifteen minutes later that the two arrived. Silver-haired jonin Hatake Kakashi arrived on time, for once, reading out of his infamous orange book. Then came the blond ninja the Hokage had been with the day before. The Hokage addressed him directly. "Deidara, it appears that I have a mission that just might help you with your problem."

Deidara stared. "You mean you can get me in the village, un? But I thought you had said yesterday the council didn't like the idea, un!"

Sarutobi smiled. "There are two ways to join this village. The first way to become a Konoha nin is by popular council vote. That is the most common. The other is to perform a trial of combat, which has just presented itself."

"You will rescue the child from yesterday you saw, Naruto Uzumaki, from unknown kidnappers. Kakashi here will assist you, and also judge your performance to see what rank you deserve. You will depart immediately, and not return until you have the child. Go."

The two ninja nodded and shunshined away.

"Kakashi-san. Do you have any experience tracking?"

"Why yes I do. When I was in ANBU I relied almost exclusively on scent for tracking my opponents, as I found it much more reliable than the other senses. However, there is an even better way to track Naruto. Summoning Jutsu!" He slammed his hand into the ground, and a small dog appeared in a puff of smoke. "Do you know where we could find something that would have Naruto's scent on it?"

Deidara nodded. "Someone gave this to him yesterday, un. I had to disarm it, but wasn't sure if I had gotten it all the way, so I gave him a replica, un." He lifted a plain box out of his pocket. "It should smell like him. Does the dog have a name?"

Said dog immediately looked up. "Damn straight, you cross-dresser." Deidara froze. "My name's Pakkun. Now gimme the box so we can get this over with." The blond shinobi dumbly put the box on the ground. "God I hate rookies." He took a good sniff. "Oh, an easy one. He smells terrible. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes to pick up his trail somewhere around here."

As a matter of fact, it took two minutes and thirty six seconds for Pakkun to locate the spot where Naruto was kidnapped at. "Both are Konoha shinobi. They practically reek of this village, so I wouldn't expect that they get out much. Follow me!"

Deidara turned to Kakashi as they sprinted down the street. "What does that mean, un? Shinobi of your own village kidnapping one another, un? That doesn't sound like something they should be doing."

Kakashi sighed. "It isn't. But the poor kids a jinchuuriki, and as a result the villagers immediately associate him with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the demon sealed within him. He hasn't even been told yet." Pakkun suddenly stopped, causing the two ninjas to rush past him before being able to stop. The resulting skid crashing Kakashi into a fruit vendors stand, and Deidara impacted directly on him.

"I don't believe it. Hey Kakashi! They've been holding him in this apartment the whole time!" Pakkun's cry caused the two shinobi to immediately disentangle.

(A/N) Dun-dun-dun! Enter the heroes to save Naruto!

Next chapter, the rescue. Not all that complicated.


	2. Prologue: There

The Rescue

(A/N) Here we go. It's a new day and a new chapter. Onwards! Yosh!!!!!!

Kakashi took a deep breath. The strange man beside him did much the same, and then spoke. "Kakashi, do we just open the door, or should I destroy it, un?"

The silver haired jonin paused in thought for a moment. That this strange Deidara had asked him for permission probably meant he had already concluded this was a domestic matter. Konoha vs Konoha, and he had been caught in the middle. The fact he was probably right made Kakashi slightly angry. "Go ahead and destroy it. We only need to go in, and Pakkun has never been wrong before. The very last thing these people will need to worry about is property damage by the time the Hokage is done with them. And Torture and Interrogation. And finally, the executioner."

An evil grin lit Deidara's face. Instead of reaching for explosive tags or forming handseals like Kakashi had expected, he pushed his hands together. When they seperated, a small clay bird was formed. It immediately flew towards the door, before landing on the knob and looking expectantly at Deidara. "Katsu!" At the blonde ninja's cry, the bird exploded violently, obliterating the wooden door and frame, terrifying most of the people in the area, and shattering most of the brick wall around the building. Kakashi barely paused to marvel at this ninja's abilities before following him into the building.

The two chuunin who had tried to stop him never stood a chance. Kakashi had killed them both before they could even draw their weapons. Pakkun led them straight to Naruto.

Deidara took in a sharp breath. Kakashi couldn't speak for several long moments.

Naruto had been nailed to the wall of the apartment with kunai. Blood pooled below him. Far too much blood. The blond's limp form was suspended almost a foot off the ground. There were several vertical tears running across his chest that looked as if they had been made with a blunt object, such as a sharpened stick.

Deidara finally broke the silence. "We were too late... What the hell did this kid ever do?"

Kakashi shook his head. Nothing. They both knew it, even though Deidara was a newcomer. Suddenly Naruto twitched. Kakashi immediately ran to his side and checked for a pulse. To his lasting shock, he found one. "He's alive. Holy shit. The kid is still alive." He spun around. "Deidara, send word to the Hokage now! He needs medical attention, and I'm not qualified to move him from a setup like this. If we just take him down from the wall, he could bleed out." The blond nodded and sprinted out the door. A few moments later, a raven haired figure entered.

"This is the Konoha police! What's going on he-" He stopped as he looked at the child on the wall. "Dear god. Hatake, is that him?"

"Yes. He's alive, by some miracle, and I intend to keep it that way. Fugaku, if you want to help, make sure no one without medical training gets through those doors." The Uchiha immediately nodded and went to the door. "Just hold on kid..."

Pain. Darkness. Voices. Questions. Pain. Nothing else was real. A boy laid trapped in his own mind, forcing himself away from his body's agony. He curled in the dark, until he saw a light. A dull red glow came from ahead, and he walked towards it. He soon found his way through a long, winding sewer towards the glow. A voice shook him to his very core as he rounded the final turn and came to a massive gate. **"Who is it that approaches me? Is it my jailor? Or has some poor rat found it's way into my host's mind? Who dares approach the Kyuubi?"**

The blond boy stared blankly at the looming figure as it came into view. Standing hundreds of feet tall, the fox had nine swaying tails over its head. "I don't know. I remember being someone, but I can't remember who. Will you help me remember?"

The great fox stared at him. It had limited knowledge of what was happening outside the boy's mind, for now at least, but it had felt the pain. _**"Damn it, his mind is half broken. Maybe big and scary isn't the way to do this..." **_In a puff of smoke, the Kyuubi had shrunk to about six feet tall and changed into its human form. The nine tails still hovered behind it, but the fox's features had gone from terrifying canines and fur to a noble face, jet black hair, and a red kimono. **"Child. I am here to help you. You are Naruto Uzumaki, and you have freinds. Never forget." **The noble looked up at a point far distant. **"Our time grows short. Seek me out when you are recovered." **Light bathed the area, blinding Naruto before he was pulled out. The fox sighed. **"Damn it. I think I might actually not mind the little gaki." **He looked thoughtful. **"I wonder..."**

"Hokage-sama! He's regaining consciousness." A medic-nin's shout rousted the Sandaime from his menancholy. He had temporarily moved his office to the hospital, converting an unused room into a place he could fulfill his duties to Naruto and the village at the same time. Even if the village didn't deserve it. He shook his head. He had a friend's son to look out for.

"Take me to him."

Naruto groaned softly in the harsh light. He looked around. Cheap plastic curtains. Windowless room. Sterile colors. Whirring machines and an IV tube in his arm. The hospital. He tried to get up, but his muscles spasmed and he dropped back into the bed. A small group of people entered the room. The first was a medic-nin, the only one allowed to treat Naruto becuase of how little he cared if Naruto was the demon or not. A patient was, to him, a patient. The next was the Sandaime Hokage, swiftly followed by two ninja's, one with silver hair who looked vaguely familiar, and the other was the ninja who had been in the Hokage's office when he came in with his present. "When can I leave Hokage-jiji?" The question was asked with none of his usual fire. That made the Hokage nervous.

"You were very badly injured Naruto. The doctor says that you, with your... prodigious rate of healing, should be able to leave in a few days, but not before." The Hokage smiled. "And this man has an offer to make you."

The blonde ninja approached him. Naruto noticed that, unlike when he was in the Hokage's office, the man now wore a Konoha headband. "When did you get that?" the blond asked, pointing to Deidara's forehead.

The ninja smiled. "Just a few hours ago for saving you, un. Now, I've heard that it is your dream to become the strongest ninja ever?"

"That's right! I'm going to be the very best there ever was!" Naruto coughed as his outburst took its toll on his wounded body.

"Then for starters, you should take it easy, un. After that, I want you to become my apprentice."

"Your what?"

"Apprentice. You would travel with me for the next six years, and I would bring you back for the genin exams. That way, you would be safe for the next few years, and you would also get some good combat training, un. I am an expert at the art of explosives, and believe you have the potential to be one as well."

Naruto nodded sagely. "But how come it took you until now to become a ninja? You must have been pretty terrible to fail the academy that much." Deidara facefaulted immediately.

"I didn't fail the academy, baka, un! I came frow Iwagakure. I am the ambassador to Konoha, un, and have to stay for the next ten years to help with the treaty. But Iwa didn't want me to come back, so I decided to stay, un. I'm a Konoha jonin now, which is more than you can say, un."

Naruto then turnd to the Hokage. "Is it okay with you if I go with him? Will he teach me cool stuff and make me strong?"

The old ninja's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Naruto, this is one of the strongest ninja's I know, and I have no doubt he will make you very, very strong."

Naruto turned back to the former Iwa ninja. "I will be your apprentice then."

And with that simple statement, a force was unleashed upon the world that would shake it to its very core.

Naruto walked down the street to his apartment painfully. Even though he had been cleared to leave the hospital, he still was in pain. He got to his room and collapsed on the bed, ignoring the vandalism that villagers had painted all over the outside in his absence. He almost fell asleep until he recalled the strange not-dream he had had while in the hospital. Instead, he rose to the lotus position and focused on a reddish glow....

The Kyuubi no Kitsune, greatest of the tailed demon lords, was impatient. He was in his human form, and thouroghly annoyed by the absolute necessity of it all. _**"The gaki has had his time to rest, now he needs to come visit. It will be interesting to talk to him while he's not in severe trauma." **_His line of thought was interrupted by the arrival of said gaki.

"Hello? Mister, you still in here?" The hapless blond wandered straight up to the gate, looking around questioningly until he saw the noble face from his dream. "So it wasn't my imagination. You really are in here."

**"Yes. I, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he who calls upon nature for his power, asnwer you. You are my host, my jailor, the vessel in which my power is contained. What do you wish to speak of, child?" **The Kyuubi had to resist smirking. Surely his speech would awe the tiny mortal into-

"I wanted to know what you wanted with me. But if you're going to dance around saying everything like that, I'm just gonna leave." He turned around.

**"Damn it, get back here! Don't be such a brat, its expected for me to be showy. I am a lord after all."**

Naruto snorted. "Ok, ok, just no more speeches all right?"

_**"Pushy brat... I would eat him, but he is too useful to me right now. And this seal is too strong to ever break, so I need a few concessions from him..." **_The fox had an idea. **"Boy. You know who I am, correct?"**

"You're the demon that attacked Konoha. I'm guessing you're the reason everyone hates me?"

**"They hate you from ignorance and fear. I offer training for you at a... small price."**

"What is that?" Naruto had insurance though. He was already going to get training from Deidara, so if the fox asked too much he could refuse.

**"Allow me to see the outside world once again. Let me feel the breeze, see color besides my own flames. That is all I ask."**

"You mean let you out? No way!"

The fox snorted. Ignorant mortals. **"No. All you need do is speak 'I shall let you see what I see and feel what I feel.' That will allow me to see and feel whatever you do, if I choose."**

Naruto thought about it. He didn't have to think very long. "I shall let you see what I see and feel what I feel."

The fox suddenly felt an opening in his mind. He looked in it, and almost cried for joy. He saw the inside of a trashed apartment. He felt the coarse feeling of a rough blanket beneath him. He felt his leg muscles cramp from the sustained lotus position.

And he had never, ever felt anything more sweet.

When he turned to look, the blond boy had departed. The Kyuubi smiled. This kid would be worth it after all.

Naruto groaned and stretched from his lotus position. A knock suddenly came at the door. "Naruto, are you ready, un?" His new master's voice. It was time to go.

"In a moment!" He quickly scanned his room. It showed all the signs of belonging to a five year old who had never had adult supervision in his life. He grabbed a few training weapons lying around, his frog wallet, and threw his spare clothes into a bag. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he went to face the world, and for the next six years, no sign of the 'demon' was seen.

**Six Years Later**

Two blond figures stood on top of Kage mountain. The shorter looked up. "Its been far too long sensei..."

The taller nodded. "Yes, Naruto. Far too long indeed. Let's see how Konoha deals with our return."

(A/N) And that's it! Bits of Naruto's training will be shown in flashbacks. Chapter three should be coming soon, since school is a little (very little) lighter than normal, and I'm not working on my other story. Peace! Remember to R&R.


	3. and Back Again

Back Again

(A/N) Woots! Chapter 3! Genin exams and a revealing conversation. (not 'the talk')

"All of you shut up!" Iruka's voice commanded total respect. The chatting ninjas in training were immediately silenced. "Now class, as I was trying to tell you, we have a new student transferring in today. Naruto Uzumaki, please enter." The class went rigid as the name echoed around. Years ago, he had been the one their parents had always told them to avoid. Small celebrations had broken out when he left. And now he was back.

The door to the classroom slid open, and a boy entered. He wore a mesh shirt and a black jacket with a red spiral on either sleeve. A large fox head was embroidered on the back. His hair was swept back in a spiky ponytail that fell past his shoulders, and his hands were covered in jet black gloves. His pants and boots were nondescript, standard issue. Naruto took in the classroom in silence and walked to his seat, between a black haired boy in a blue shirt who looked completely apathetic to the situation and a pale eyed girl who appeared to be in shock.

Iruka spoke again. "Naruto, would you care to make an introduction to the class?"

The blond smiled and walked to the front. "There isn't much to tell. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like getting stronger, and I want to become the strongest ninja ever. I hate those who judge too quickly." After his short monologue, he sat back down.

Iruka looked at the boy strangely. He was an odd one alright, just like he'd been told. Why did they say to be so careful around him though? Sure, he looked fairly dangerous, but that was about it. He shrugged it off. "As you know, tomorrow are the genin exams. You will receive the rest of the day to practice individually. Make sure you cover substitution and doppelgangers as well, as though are the main focus points of the jutsu test this year. Break to the courtyard and practice." All the ninja scattered at various speeds towards the practice stations in the courtyard. Several split off to practice taijutsu, another few focused on the weapons training posts. Most were practicing the specified jutsus with mixed success. He frowned as he scanned the training ninja hopefuls again.

There he was! Iruka finally spotted the new student sitting in the corner, gloves off to the side. He couldn't tell what he was doing. It looked like he was doing... nothing. Iruka sighed. He would have to talk to him already.

Naruto was having the time of his life. Working on the difficult jutsus his master had shown him right before he returned was difficult, but he thought he almost had it. He formed the cross seal again. "Shadow Clones." And suddenly, there were four of him. He smiled. That was good. Now to attempt to work on his signature jutsu more. He quickly dismissed the clones. He took off his gloves and placed them on the ground next to him and faced the corner. It wouldn't do for any to notice what he was doing. He opened his hands, revealing small toothed mouths on either hand. He placed them on the ground, where they began extracting clay from the ground. Once he had gathered enough, he began to work.

He had more than half-formed it when he was interrupted. "What do you think you're doing? Have you already mastered everything on the practical portion of the exam?"

"Pretty much, yes. I'm working on something right now. Unless you'd like to sit and watch, please don't bother me." He didn't even have to look up to feel the glare of the teacher on his back.

He was utterly shocked when the chuunin finally responded. "Alright then. Let's see what you've got there."

Naruto turned towards him and continued to form the shape. The clay constantly emitting from the tiny mouths on his hands disturbed the chuunin slightly, but not nearly as much as some of the things he had seen as a ninja. As a general shape continued to form from the clay streaming from his hands, Naruto worked his fingers through it constantly. Finally, after five minutes of intense concentration, it was done. A life sized raccoon, made entirely from clay, even patterned to look more like an albino version of the real animal than the weapon it was. To Naruto it was an achievement, but he wanted to get it done faster. The chuunin stared at him blankly.

"What does it do, Naruto?" The question only surprised Naruto for a moment.

"Ah of course. Watch this." He looked around the courtyard until he spotted an area that held an access to the roof. The clay raccoon immediately took off to it, whispering through the legs of sparring students. It climbed the roof access, and suddenly leaped into the air, much higher than a normal raccoon should have been able to. Someone pointed it out, and the entire class was staring straight at it.

"Katsu." Naruto's soft statement and subtle handseal could only be seen by Iruka. The ersatz raccoon exploded in midair, forming an impressive fireball perhaps ten feet in diameter in the air, safely above the students. Iruka looked at his charge with more than a little trepidation. "Damn. That's always fun, but I still need to be able to make them faster."

Iruka sighed. "Naruto, I don't want to know how you learned that jutsu. In fact, I think I'm going to go file for early retirement again. Good luck as a genin." The chuunin tore at his hair as he walked away. Now he had to figure out a way to keep the new kid from killing every single one of the practical examiners. Suddenly, an idea hit him. An abridged test. Only test the jutsus. Keep it safe for everyone that way.

**The next day**

Naruto awoke and got dressed. He arranged his long hair in its customary ponytail and grabbed his supplies. It was time to become a ninja. _"Hey fox, what do you think? Should I scare them a little today?"_

_**"If you really have to. Just please remember that you can't hurt anyone. And for god's sake don't show that you know I'm in here." **_The fox's warning was an old one.

_"I know Kyuubi, I've been learning from you and Deidara-sensei for six years. I'm not that stupid anymore."_

_**"If you insist gaki..."**_

Naruto snorted. The fox insisted on treating him like a five year old still. Oh well, he'd get over it. Having you're ego bruised by a million year old fox is not the best way to start the morning, but he'd been through worse.

As he arrived at the academy, he focused more on his surroundings. Most of the trainees looked fairly pathetic, but there were a few notable exceptions. He began mentally cataloging them, trying to match them with the names he'd heard yesterday.

1) Sasuke Uchiha. Dark haired, blue shirt, shorts, very serious. Unknown capabilities.

2) Kiba Inuzuka. Dog, hooded jacket. In the middle of summer. Very loud, brash, rude, and not all that bright. Strong taijutsu expected.

3) Shino Aburame. Hooded jacket, hood not up. Tiny little sunglasses that barely cover his eyes. Creepy. Absolute unknown.

He snapped to attention as Iruka walked in. Now would begin the hours of pointless testing on history and geography. Joy to him. "Our exams this year will be abridged. To pass you must successfully use a transformation and doppelganger jutsu. You will also perform one other jutsu of your choice. We'll start from the bottom of the alphabet and work our way up. Uzumaki, that means you!"

Naruto sighed and went to the front of the class. He heard one of the trainees mutter something about troublesome examiners and their troublesome changes. "Naruto, I need you to transform into me." Naruto went through the proper handsigns, and two Irukas stood at the front of the room. "Very good. Bunshins please?" Naruto formed the hand signs, but subtly changed the last one. Four Naruto's stood on the platform. Iruka frowned. He could've sworn Naruto had messed up the last seal... but no matter. This was the sticky part. "And now, one jutsu of your choice."

Naruto went down the extensive list of jutsu he knew. Only one thing would really give the impression he wanted though, so it was time to scare them all. He brought his hands together in front of his chest in the tiger seal. "Katsu!" Suddenly, a closet in the back of the room exploded, sending debris everywhere. The class stared at Naruto. No one had any idea how he'd done it, but he'd just managed to destroy the storage closet that held all the history texts.

Iruka groaned. "Very well, Naruto. You pass. Take your headband from Mizuki over there." Naruto retrieved his headband from the glaring Mizuki and returned to his seat. He let a little smirk show on his face. _That_ would certainly leave a lasting impression. Whispers were already starting in the class behind him.

"Do you think he rigged it before hand?"

"Was that some sort of fire jutsu?"

"Did anyone recognize that jutsu?" The last was said by a pink haired girl who had taken far too much notice of Naruto's actions, in his opinion.

"SHUT UP!" Iruka's shout caused all but Sasuke and Naruto to jump, the exchanged a glance. "Sasuke, you're next. Let's move it people!" The exams proceeded fairly smoothly, and almost everyone had managed to pass the exam.

"Alright, your team assignments are as follows." Iruka cleared his throat. "Team seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sasuke Uchiha, under Kakashi Hatake." Kiba looked offended at the idea. Naruto and Sasuke didn't really care. A team was a team. "Team eight will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi under Asuma Sarutobi." Shikamaru muttered something about troublesome blonds. "Team ten will be Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame, under Kurenai Yuhi." He folded up the papers. "You're senseis should be here shortly. Please wait patiently." With that he left.

Over the next half hour all the jonin arrived to pick up the other teams. All the teams except team seven were gone, and they were not happy. Of them, Kiba was the most vocal. "Who does this guy think he is, huh? He's almost an hour late! I'll show him." With that, Kiba promptly jammed an eraser in the sliding door.

Naruto sighed. Small-timer. "Kiba your not thinking big enough here."

The Inuzuka turned around. "What on earth do you mean?"

"A good prank needs to have flair. Finesse. An eraser in a door jam tells him nothing except that we're a bunch of hopeless losers getting petty revenge. He needs to _regret _being late. So take out the eraser. I'll show you how its done." Kiba reluctantly took the eraser down, although Naruto did nothing even after the jonin showed up. Three hours late.

"Sorry I'm late team, I got lost on the road to life." Absolute silence greeted the silver haired ninja. He sighed. "My first impression is... you all suck. Meet me on the roof."

They slowly made there was up to the roof. "Naruto, why the hell didn't you pound that guy with a prank the moment he walked in the door? I thought you said you had something."

Naruto turned to his teammate. "No, I said I'd show you how its done. I don't know enough to get him yet. Its all a matter of knowing about your target. Then you can torture them for hours with a good prank. Just be patient."

They finished the climb to the roof, and sat on the bench while their new sensei faced them. "Well now, I think we should get to know each other. To show you what I mean, I'll go first. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes and dislikes, as well as a great deal of hobbies. I have pretty much run out of dreams the last few years. Ok, so how about you, blondie?"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. He hated being called that. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I enjoy training, new jutsus, ramen, and explosions. I despise those who judge others before knowing them, and my desire is to become the strongest ninja ever."

"Ok, small dark and brooding, your turn."

Sasuke didn't even bother to glare at him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't enjoy much of anything, and I don't have any hobbies. My one ambition is to kill a certain man and restore my clan." Kiba inched slowly away from him. Kakashi blinked slowly.

_"Pretty much what I expected." _He sighed. "Your up dog boy."

Kiba glared daggers at him. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka. I like training with my partner Akamaru, I hate losers and people who insult my clan, and my dream is to become a hunter-nin."

Kakashi leaned back and thought about what he'd just heard. Naruto, by his introduction and reports from his exams, had probably learned his master's signature jutsu, and enjoyed using it greatly. The Uchiha was definitely an avenger type, so he'd have to watch him. The Inuzuka sounded brash and confident, but was most likely all talk for now. _"Oh well. They might shape up..." _He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Tomorrow, meet me at training ground seven. That is where our first training will be. Don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw up."

Naruto snorted as Kakashi shunshined away. _"Don't eat breakfast my ass. I know too much to miss a meal for a training exercise." _All three genin walked away. Kiba came up to Naruto again.

"Get any ideas of how your going to get him, bro?"

"So single-minded. We didn't really learn anything from him but his name, so I don't have quite enough for a good prank yet. Be patient. When I have something, you'll know. The whole village will know." Naruto's smile unnerved Kiba a little bit. He seemed rather... predatory.

The next morning team seven assembled at the assembly grounds at eight o clock sharp. Then they settled in for the wait.

It was a mere two hours, however, before Kakashi finally arrived. He once again ignored his team's glares. "Alrighty then, kiddos, today we'll be doing a special survival exercise. You see, today, for the next two hours, you will be surviving me." He pulled out two silver bells. "These are your objectives. The ones who obtain them will eat lunch. Those that do not will be tied to the stump." No one bothered to note that with two bells, someone would not be eating. "Begin!" All three genin scattered into the surrounding area. Kakashi sighed and began to slowly wander the forest. It wasn't long before the first attempt was made.

Kiba Inuzuka was out for vengeance. The same one who had insulted him and Akamaru in one sentence the day before stood in front of him, completely unawares. He charged silently towards Kakashi's back, shuriken held between each finger like claws.

Just before he slasehd at Kakashi, he felt a foot impact his chest, and flew back into a tree. "Lesson one, Kiba, taijutsu, begin!" Kiba picked himself up and placed Akamaru on the ground. He quickly popped soldier pills in his and Akamaru's mouths. "Transformation!" In a puff of smoke, two Kibas stood side by side, and began to stalk Kakashi. They both paused as their sensei reached into his back pocket. _"Is he going for a weapon?" _But all that emerged was a well worn orange book. "You going to read that while we fight?"

The silver haired jonin snorted. "Well, yes. I'm at one of the best parts! You expect me to stop so I can clobber a genin?" Both Kibas growled and charged, forcing Kakashi to duck. He never took his eyes of the manga, and giggled maniacally the whole time. The pair continued their assault unsuccessfully, and eventually Kakashi grew bored with the whole thing. On their next charge, he got behind the one he suspected was Akamaru and planted a kick firmly it its back. The kiba disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing Akamaru. Kiba howled and redoubled his attack, becoming more feral than ever. _"Lord, what a berserker. This kid wants to become a hunter-nin?"_

"Don't you dare ever touch my dog again!" Kiba shouted and unleashed a flurry of punches. Kakashi was forced to look at Kiba to block them all. Finally, Kiba saw a hole in his guad, and aimed a kick through it. His kick hit hard, and he shouted in triumph, only to see a log splinter in front of him. He turned around and began shouting. "I'll find you! I'll find you and use those bells to strangle you!" He sprinted towards the woods, but stopped as he saw a glint in the grass. "Heh. Too easy." As he bent to pick up the bell, however, he suddenly found himself dangling upside down in the air. The bell was promptly retrieved by a Kakashi who firmly ignored the struggling genin.

Naruto was desperately molding clay. Kiba had managed to hold Kakashi for a while, but not long enough for what he needed to do. His creation would require a few more minutes to complete. As he worked on it, he didn't notice another pair of eyes watching as well, not until Sasuke was right behind him. "What're you making there?" Naruto jumped slightly.

"Please don't sneak up on me like that when I'm working. I might screw this up. I take it you had something besides simple curiousity that made you break cover?" Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah. I figure, Kiba is out of action. His battle partner has been beaten, and he himself got thoroughly trounced. Individually, I don't think we can take him. So we go at it together. What do you say?" Sasuke mentally crossed his fingers. If this worked, then he'd have quite a powerful ally on his team.

"It sounds pretty good to me. Get Kiba though. We will need every bit of help we can get, even if it is from someone who already got beat. I need..." he checked his progress. "About thirty more seconds to finish this." He resumed molding the clay.

Sasuke frowned. "Naruto, what's that on your hands?"

"I'll tell you after this. Its sort of weird, but I think its pretty cool myself. Get Kiba. Go!" As Sasuke ran off, Naruto put the finishing touches on his creation. It was a huge clay falcon, with a ten foot wingspan and four feet long. He'd made it so it could easily carry himself and one other. He hopped on its back. "Let's go!" The bird took off into the air. Naruto whooped in exhilaration. This was amazing. He had made a construct that could fly, and carry himself as well. He had flight. He got well above the tree line and began to track Sasuke's progress while constructing smaller versions of his ride at the same time.

Sasuke made it to the clearing where Kiba and Kakashi had fought without incident, but the jonin came out far too quickly, before Sasuke could even get Kiba down. Naruto cursed. He'd have to do something that might attract attention to himself. He commanded one of his smaller birds to fly down and land on the rope holding Kiba up. Once it landed on the branch Naruto detonated it. "Katsu!" The explosion blew Kiba towards the ongoing fight between Kakashi and Sasuke. Kiba shook his head, and immediately charged in.

Kakashi frowned as Kiba entered the fight. The boy was obviously tired already, but he was still ready to fight, and Sasuke had already forced him to put away Icha-Icha Paradise. The way he had escaped also suggested that Naruto was around here somewhere. He shot a flurry of blows at the Uchiha assaulting him to buy him time to look around. What he saw was a flock of smaller birds being chased by a bigger bird.

A shout suddenly came down. "Sasuke! Kiba! Get clear!" They both quickly leapt away, leaving Kakashi to fend for himself.

His eyes widened as he registered what he saw. Naruto, on the back of a bird that had a fairly huge wingspan, was constantly adding smaller birds to the flock in front of him from his hands. Almost fifty of them were coming at him, in a scatter pattern he couldn't avoid. "Lesson two, kiddos. Ninjutsu!" He initiated the handseals just before the birds crashed into where he had been sitting. The fifty explosions left a huge crater, destroying everything for twenty feet around and tossing rubble everywhere. No sign of Kakashi was left.

"Naruto, wasn't that a tad... excessive?" Sasuke's question went unansered. Naruto appeared to be scanning the ground until he spotted someting they hadn't. "Sasuke! Look out! He's coming for you!"

Sasuke reacted instinctively, leaping for the trees, where he could get above the ground. If Kakashi survived that, it was because he had gone underground. His feet hadn't even left the ground yet, however, when two hands grasped them and pulled him down. "Headhunter jutsu." A ringing was heard. "Alright kiddos, times up. I'm afraid to say this almost..."

Naruto groaned and jumped to the ground. His bird dissolved back into clay as he put his gloves back on. "We didn't do that bad, right?"

Kakashi eye smiled at them. "Of course not. You functioned very well as a team. I'm proud to say that I believe team seven will do very well in coming days. Pass!"

Naruto smiled slightly. Sasuke let out a contented sigh and leaned back. Kiba jumped in the air. "Now thats what I'm talking about!"

(A/N) Chapter three. Much longer than my prologues, I know, but I plan on getting all my future chapters to this length. Peace!


	4. The Glory of Being a Genin

The Glory of Being a Genin

(A/N) This chapter is going to be mostly a bunch of training crap, at least the beginning. We'll have to see how it goes. Action will come soon, so don't worry. Oh, and I've changed my mind a bit on the whole english jutsu thing. All the really basic jutsus (Kawarimi, Kage Bunshin, Rasengan) the ones everyone knows, will be places in Japanese from now on!

P.S. I know lots of people are reading this, but I'd appreciate a few more reviews people. Seriously, you have to have something to say after reading...

Peace!

Naruto blinked slowly. "Excuse me. This entire farce, the bells, the lunches, the damn timer, was all so you could see if we worked well as a team? I missed breakfast for a teamwork exercise?"

Kakashi beamed at him. Finally, someone understood the importance of this. "Absolutely! Teamwork is the absolute essential point of being a ninja! That is why Konoha is so famous and is the strongest village right now! We use teamwork! So people who aren't good at teamwork get an extra year at the academy instead of being ninjas!"

Dead silence greeted him. Even the crickets couldn't respond to that.

Kakashi continued. "So, tomorrow we begin training! The next week will be spent making sure your ready, while most of the other teams begin small time missions." He leaned forward. "But this team will be different. All of you were specially chosen to form an all assault squad, a squad that could take any mission involving battle and death, and come out on top and intact. An explosives expert, an Uchiha, and a user of Inuzuka taijutsu at its highest level! This team has been planned out since you guys first entered the academy." He checked a notepad. "You will each receive specialized instructions regarding your task for this team, like what situations you will be expected to lead in, and each shall recieve specialized instructors as well. I will be teaching Sasuke, Naruto will be taught by his old master again, and Kiba will continue studying with his clan, albeit much more intensively. Did you all get that?"

Naruto raised his hand. "I understood that well enough, but I thought each squad was required to have a medic. If we are to be an all-battle squad, who will be the medic? None of us here really are suited to that, I think." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Good question. Another squad is going to receive intensive medical training, they are your complementary squad. A structure like this has never been tried, and won't be put into action until all six are chuunin. So until then, you will be training and doing missions slightly above par. Our first mission with the complement squad is in a week. You have until then to master the exercises you will receive. Dismissed!" The three genin nodded and left.

When they were gone, a sadistic look somehow managed to cross Kakashi's face despite the mask. This was going to be fun.

The next day, the three genin gathered to meet their instructors. A smile split Naruto's face when he saw Deidara. "Hey sensei!" Deidara nodded back.

Sasuke went to Kakashi, and they immediately departed. Kiba and his mother also left fairly soon, after a small argument.

"So, sensei, what's in store for training?" Naruto asked the question with his signature foxy grin on his face.

Deidara's smile was evil. "Chakra control. You have the absolute worst of your squad, so were going to have you climbing trees with your feet, un." Naruto paled slightly. He'd seen this before, and it was difficult for anyone with large chakra reserves. And Naruto's were very nearly unlimited. His master tossed him a kunai. "Use this to mark your progress. I take it you know the theory behind it, un?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Focus chakra in my feet to the same level as the ambient chakra is in the tree. Too little, you fall off, too much you blow up the tree." He had an odd feeling that Konoha was going to lose trees today.

Sure enough, his first attempt got him ten feet up before the tree bark exploded as he brought his feet down, and he flew off. He cursed and ran at the tree again. And again. And again. By the end of the day, he had gotten twenty feet off the ground, and was running low on chakra.

"That's enough for today, un. When you reach the top of the trees, we will move onto the next step. Their is only one more though, and it's not much harder, un." Naruto barely heard him as he walked towards his house.

The next day, Naruto made it to the top of the tree on his last run. He hopped down, branch by branch. "So, what's the next step in the exercise sensei?" Naruto was eager to figure it out. It had taken him two of the alloted seven days to get the first part, and he had a feeling the second stage was going to be harder. He needed a head start.

Deidara smiled. "Simple, un. You must go all the way up the tree with a leaf balanced on your forehead by chakra, un. You may walk up the tree this time, though, un."

Naruto paled yet again. The leaf balancing was an old academy exercise that required little effort for even him to get. But combining that with tree walking was going to be tough. He knew he'd better rest up.

Deidara scratched his head. He couldn't understand it. His idiotic apprentice had managed to get the second part of the exercise on the third day. True, his first few attempts had ended with the tree bursting into flame or being sliced in half, but he had gotten it before sundown. He missed the next question Naruto asked him. "Hmm?"

Naruto frowned. "I said, what are we going to work on now? I got this exercise over and done with, but their has to be something left to do."

Deidara thought about it. "How is your speed at molding creatures?"

Naruto sighed. "My raccoon takes about 5 minutes to look like the real thing, the birds about a minute, though I can mass produce featureless ones fairly easily. The falcon you ride on takes almost a half hour."

The former Iwa-nin grinned. "Let me show you a few tricks to help you get your speed up, un. They really work quite well!"

It took him the rest of the week to learn the 'trick' but it was well worth it. A mere thirty seconds for even the _falcon. _And it was so _simple!_ Why hadn't he thought of it before?(A/N Don't whine about me not telling you the trick. You'll be told in due time.)

The week was over, and it was time for each jonin to make their reports on their team. Teams one through six were failed. "Team seven has exceeded all reasonable expectations. I expect that they will be ready for the chuunin exams in two months time." Muttering swept the room as Kakashi made his report. Their were very few rookie teams that even survived chuunin exams, much less passed them.

Kurenai Yuhi went next. "Team eight will be prepared for the chuunin exams as well, I believe. They are doing well above what they should be doing, though still within the upper limits of our projections."

Asuma Sarutobi finished. "Team ten might be ready for chuunin exams. They are doing fairly well, but would need heavy improvement."

The Hokage stood. "Thank you all. You are dismissed, except for Kakashi and Kurenia."

The others all filed out. "So, the joint mission is today, correct?"

Both senseis nodded. "All of team seven is ready."

"As is team eight."

The Hokage nodded. "Very well. Get them up here as fast as you can. I've got the perfect mission."

Teams seven and eight came in a few minutes later. They regarded eachother silently for the most part. Shino said nothing, and Sakura seemed always on the verge of an outburst towards Sasuke. Hinata tried to pretend she wasn't there.

The Sandaime stood. "You two teams together form the core of Konoha's next experiment. One squad that will be heavily involved in the medical arts." He nodded to team eight. "And one squad formed entirely around combat. Now while neither squads are ready for upper level missions, we have a C rank that should do fine. You are to escort a bridge builder to the Wave and protect him as he completes the bridge being constructed their. Expect bandits and non-ninja mercenaries to be the primary resistance. Tazuna, please come in."

The door swung open again, and an old man with a beer gut came in. He stank of alchohol. "Eh? What's this? I pay for some super ninjas to protect me, and you stick me with six super brats. They look useless. Especially the blond idiot in the middle." Naruto thought it was polite not to kill him at this point, but hoped he would shut up soon. "And seriously. The guy with the dog? What sort of ninja carries around a puppy on their head constantly?" Kiba bristled and moved towards Tazuna, but was subtly restrained by Sasuke and Naruto. Tazuna snorted, completely unaware that he had almost provoked a ninja to attack him. "Anyway, I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna, famous through all the Wave! I expect you to protect me and my bridge from anything until it has been completed."

The Hokage interrupted him before he could continue. "You are leaving in a half hour. Assemble by the main gate by then."

The genin nodded and left to gather their supplies. They could deal with a rude client, but not unless properly equipped.

All of the shinobi were assembled on time without incident by the main gate on time, even the ever unreliable Kakashi. Tazuna arrived just as the hour was reached. They trudged in silence past the gates and began down the road. They moved quickly, but slow enough that the civilian had no trouble keeping pace. They made it almost a mile in blissful silence. Then Kiba spoke up. "So Tazuna, why exactly do you need ninja guards for your bridge? I mean, there isn't that much that bandits would want to steal off of a bridge construction site."

Tazuna sighed. "The bandits are only a problem until we get back to the Wave. The real problem is that... competition has been hiring mercenaries to harass and attack my workers, as well as destroy my supplies. This bridge needs to be finished, but it never will be unless we get good protection." All the ninja present could tell he was leaving something out. Kakashi was about to pick up the line of questioning, when a puddle grabbed his attention.

_"That's wierd... its been weeks since the last rain in this area. Why would there be a puddle on the road?" _They passed it without incident. Kakashi sighed in relief. He had thought it might have been a trap.

Then a chain wrapped around him and pulled tight. Bits of Kakashi went flying everywhere as he was cleaved roughly by the chain. The genin moved quickly, instinctively. Team eight backed up and took a position in front of Tazuna, while team seven moved to directly engage the opponents. The two were connected by a chain, and both wore a large clawed gauntlet on opposite hands. It was clear they were used to fighting in tandem.

Sasuke made his move first. He used a shuriken to pin the chain to a tree and kicked out at both of them. They disconnected the chain and rolled away. Kiba and a transformed Akamaru moved to distract them for the final assault. Naruto moved quickly behind the one Akamaru had engaged, and delivered a ferocious barrage of blows to his back. The figure groaned and bent over, before lashing around quickly with his gauntlet. Naruto reacted a moment too slow, and the claw scraped the back of his hand. The burning was a clear indicator of poison.

The real Kiba was in trouble. His opponent was stronger, faster, and had regained his balance. He steadily pushed Kiba as Sasuke and Naruto struggled to bring down his brother once and for all. Kiba ducked under a thrust by the gauntlet and rushed forward, only to meet a rising knee with his chin. He flew backwards and slammed into a tree. As he rose he coughed up a little blood. A shriek came from his left, and he watched as Naruto slapped an explosive tag on his opponent's back and jumped away. The blast blew the back off of the assassin, and a scattering of blood and gore spattered Naruto and Sasuke in a fine spray.

Kiba's opponent froze at the sight of his brother's death. He let out a bestial howl and charged Naruto and Sasuke. Before he got three feet, however, Kakashi appeared behind him and slit his throat. Even as the body fell, Kakashi glared at Tazuna. "Tazuna. We need to talk."

The two moved off and began to converse. Naruto glanced at his hand as it began to throb. "Sasuke, I'm going to have our medics see if they can drain poison. I think they might have coated their weapons in it."

Sasuke snorted. "Whatever. Just make sure you don't go and die, idiot."

Naruto grunted and moved towards team eight. They eyed him warily as he approached. "Hey, do any of you know how to drain poison cleanly? I think they had their weapons poisoned." He grimaced as he hand throbbed again.

Kurenai sighed. "No. We didn't expect to have to deal with anything besides the normal cuts and bruises out here, so the most they know is bandaging, stitching wounds, and how to deal with infections. We'll need to return to Konoha to get the poison drained."

Naruto nodded. "Its okay, there's another way." With that he walked over to the side of the path opposite of them. They heard a grunt of pain, and blood began dripping to the ground. Hinata gaped, while Sakura looked on it utter shock. "He didn't... did he? Kurenai-sensei?"

"He did."

Naruto turned back to them, and came back over. "Can you bandage this please?" His hand had a hole through it where he'd stabbed himself with a kunai to purge the poison from his system. The fresh flow of blood had flushed all of the poison back out, but he would pass out if it wasn't stopped soon. Hinata nodded mutely and pulled out her medical kit.

Even as she finished cleaning and bandaging the gaping wound, Kakashi came back over. He looked around and sighed heavily. "I guess its time to decide whether or not we continue." He cleared his throat. "What we now know is this: The Wave country, as isolated as it is, has always relied on trade to keep its economy afloat. Recently, Gato of Gato Industries has come into their country. What started as a business opportunity turned into an economic takeover, and he now controls all shipping to and from the Wave. All the residents in the wave are poor, and most of their money was pooled to pay for the bridge Tazuna is building. That bridge will allow them to trade by land, and break Gato's hold on the country."

He leaned back. "Problem is, Gato isn't going to take that lying down. As soon as the bridge looked like it would near completion, he raised the prices so high in the country that no one can afford anything really. So they pooled the last of their money again to hire some ninja guards - us - to protect the bridge until its completion. Gato has access to high level ninja mercenaries and missing-nin. It is likely that these won't be the last we have to face on our journey. Who wants to keep going?"

Kiba immediately raised his hand, followed shortly by Shino. Naruto slowly followed suit, as did Sasuke, Sakura, and, finally, Hinata. Naruto turned and looked at the group. "Its unanimous sensei."

Kakashi nodded. "Fine. Tazuna is very very lucky I didn't make this an executive decision." He straightened his headband over his eye. "Let's keep moving."

They resumed walking soon. As they walked, Sasuke and Kiba came to him, speaking so the others couldn't hear. "Naruto. Back during that fight, you didn't go nearly all out against them. You didn't use any of your explosives except a high level tag. Why?"

Naruto sighed. He would have to show them. He slowly began removing his gloves, glancing around to make sure none of team eight were watching. "Sasuke. In order to form those explosives, I had to change my body. The jutsu was long, complicated, and difficult, but I did it. It cannot be undone. And it gave me these. He showed them his hands, palm up. The little mouths opened and closed slowly, the nubs of teeth rotating slowly.

Kiba pulled back a little, but Sasuke seemed genuinely interested. "And these are how you form the explosive clay?"

"Yes. They can pull clay out of the earth and refine it into a powerful explosive, then I use them to shape it into whatever I happen to need."

Sasuke looked again. "Clever. But I think I understand why you didn't use them. Deception is always a shinobi's greatest ally, and if no one knows about this except your team..."

"Then no one can tell someone I don't want to know. Exactly. The only ones besides you who know right now are Hokage-jij and my master Deidara, who showed me how to first open them." The blond pulled his gloves back on and straightened his ponytail. "I really don't want to terrify them with this yet, not until they've seen some of the things that ninjas do to their bodies to gain power for themselves." He looked Sasuke in the eye. "So please. Don't tell anyone this. I know exactly when I'll have to use them, and I really hope it doesn't happen yet."

Sasuke nodded. "I can understand you wanting to not have people know how much you can do. In this case I understand you not wanting them to know how you do it either." He looked around and noticed that their conversation was garnering more and more attention from team eight, though they weren't actively eavesdropping. Not yet anyway. "So Kiba, what was your week of bootcamp like?"

Kiba blinked, not understanding at first, until he saw Sakura looking at them. "Oh, not too bad. Mostly I've been working on a few advanced battle techniques with Akamaru here." He grinned at his dog. "I learned a couple of really cool things from my mom, and then we worked on climbing trees for the rest of the week."

Sasuke grinned. "Kakashi had me working on more fire and lightning jutsus, and then we climbed trees as well. How about you Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "Deidara-sensei had me climbing trees half the week. Then he told me a bit about my elemental affinity and showed me a wind jutsu." He didn't add that the wind jutsus had actually been taught to him by the Kyuubi.

It wasn't too much longer until they reached the boat. The helmsman looked nervous, but not excessively so, and they landed on the Wave without incident. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps Gato had decided to wait to- "Down!" Kakashi's yell shook him out of his thoughts as he dropped to the ground. A large object flew above them at neck height before embedding in a tree.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" To his utter horror, Naruto looked again at the object. It was a sword, easily seven feet long and as wide as the man standing on it. As for the man himself...

He was familiar to Naruto. Deidara had once shown him a bingo book from Konohagakure, and this man had been in it. "Zabuza Momochi." The swordsman's head snapped towards Naruto immediately.

"Oh, so blondy's seen a bingo book, has he? Very good, they say knowledge is the key to victory against a stronger opponent." He looked around. "This is quite the escort you've managed to pick up here, Tazuna. Six genin don't mean much, but look at the jonin! Kurenai-Devil-Eyes and Kakashi the Copy Ninja. This should be fun."

He ripped the sword out of the tree and jumped down in front of them. "Now who wants to play?"

(A/N) Thats it for chapter four. Next chapter will be full of epicness and fights, so don't go away! Might not come for a while, since I'll be gone for the weekend though...

Remember to R&R! Your reviews keep my updates up!


	5. Battle in the Wave

Battle in the Wave

(A/N) Chapter 5. Technical issues with the site are the only real reason for the delay, and apologizes for the inconvenience. Or I'll sick all of the OC's I've been designing on them.

Zabuza charged forward without a second thought, far faster than Kakashi had anticipated. The silver haired jonin pulled out a kunai and blocked the massive blade.

"I truly expected better from a swordsman of the mist. Now, Kurenai!"

Said jonin immediately launched the most powerful genjutsu she had in her arsenal at the swordsman. "Infinity Lock!"

To her everlasting shock, the swordsman stayed on his feet. He even laughed. Kakashi on the other hand, fell on the ground and began to spasm slightly.

"You're just a stupid genjutsu using bitch. Don't you know that my blade can deflect genjutusus? It just so happened I even had an enemy to deflect it onto this time. My thanks to you for taking care of the main threat so quickly." He gripped his blade again. "Now all I have to do is kill you and the fight is over!"

Kurenai cursed and jumped back behind the genin. "Kids, I'm no good at a straight fight like this. Let's show him what the joint squads can do!" All six genin spread out. Zabuza took another look at them and began to examine them.

Hinata and Sakura looked clearly like what they were. They were medics, plain and simple. That, however, would allow wounded to rejoin the fight at maximum power again, which is almost as dangerous as anything else.

Kiba and Sasuke looked like dangerous close ranged fighters, though the dog mystified Zabuza. What was the point of taking a dog into combat? Sasuke was also clearly and Uchiha with that symbol printed on his clothes, and Zabuza knew of the legendary fighting prowess they had. But he was still just a brat for now.

The only mysteries here were Shino and Naruto. They both hung back, not as far back as the medics, but farther than the two close ranged fighters. Zabuza noted that while the blond had drawn a variety of small explosives, the boy in the trench coat had done nothing.

This might not go precisely the way he had planned it.

No signal was given. No subtle gesture could have given Zabuza the split second he needed to destroy them instantly as they charged. They just... came.

Kiba charged in from the left, a transformed Akamaru circling. He ducked a hurried slash and got inside the swordsman's reach to engage him close up. He was getting hammered, but he took it. It was part of the plan.

Sasuke came next, launching a scattered set of fireballs and blasts of lightning towards the missing nin. One of the electric blasts clipped Zabuza's sword, sending hundreds of volts into his body. The experienced jonin reflexively dropped his sword.

Kurenai moved next. With the sword out of the way, she began casting debilitating genjutsus that interfered with the senses on him. One after another, they layered up until he was barely fast enough to keep up with the two boys assaulting him.

Naruto and Shino had already made their moves. They just needed the close ranged fighters to clear.

Kiba's hand twitched towards the circling Akamaru. The transformed canine charged forward and spiraled into a blurring mass. "Tsuuga!"Zabuza jumped clear quickly. A viscious grin on Naruto's face was the only warning that saved his life, causing him to jump again.

The area he had just been in exploded violently. The camouflaged explosive tags were almost unnoticeable to the naked eye, and only slightly less potent. The blast left a massive crater and sent the airborne swordsman flying even farther. Zabuza climbed to his feet, panting slightly. These brats were good. Individually, each of the ones who had attacked were at least high genin, and they worked so well together that as a squad they had a chance of standing up to him. But he shouldn't be having this much trouble, even with having to constantly dispel genjutsu. He idly noticed a beetle running across his clothes. Strange, it felt that even now his chakra was draining...

He looked at the beetle again. And then at the shinobi next to Naruto who had done nothing so far. "Shit..." He immediately dived into the water and used basic manipulation to scour himself. Hundreds of bugs floated off of the seems in his clothing. He coughed as he resurfaced.

"You kids are real freaks, you know that? I'm serious here. Every single one of you has just caused me trouble. It might be time for me to get serious." An evil glint lit his eye as he pulled up his sword once more. "Kai!" No genjutsu was dispelled, however. Small symbols that everyone had assumed were mere decoration on the blade dissapeared. "Those seals make this sword weigh almost two thousand extra pounds. Let's see how you handle me now!" He blurred and practically dissapeared. Naruto barely managed to duck the swing of the blade, and Shino's coat recieved a small cut, though he himself was untouched.

All the genin regrouped, Kurenai and Tazuna at the back. Naruto sighed and stepped forward, towards the missing nin. "If you're going to get serious, I'm afraid I will too. I was hoping not to have to do this for quite some time yet." His gloves dropped off of his hands and dipped into a secondary weapons pouch. That pouch was far from normal, however, having been modified to condense any substance inside it to a far smaller size than normal. That made it perfect for carrying bulk items, such as water, soldier pills, and food.

Or, in this case, explosive clay.

Naruto fed a small ball into each hand, but it was like two tons of processed explosived had just entered each arm. Zabuza laughed.

"Great. The little freak's got mouths on his hands that can eat dirt. I shiver in fear." Naruto stolidly ignored this and focused on what he had to do.

_"If I go for a straight explosives attack, he'll just get behind me and rip me to pieces with his speed. What can nullify his speed and power..." _Naruto's eyes widened. _"Of course. This should be fun."_ Naruto plunged his hands straight into the ground. "Nobody move for a bit."

Sasuke turned to the rest of them. "Do what he says. Trust me on this one, he knows what he's talking about." In truth, Sasuke didn't know exactly what Naruto was doing, but Naruto hadn't wanted to show the other squad his power yet, so he clearly thought it was needed.

Naruto pulled his hands out of the ground. "Ok. Let's dance." He immediately placed his hands in the air in front of him. In less than ten seconds, a bird with a broad back and huge wingspan appeared. Naruto climbed on top. "Can you catch me in the air when you have to stay in the same place?"

Zabuza snorted and began running at him. He felt the ground shift and moved quickly to the side. The place he would have been a second later erupted in white hot flames. For the second time that fight, Zabuza was sent flying. He landed in the lake and slowly climbed to his feet. "I'm going to fucking kill you. Then I will find everyone you ever held dear, and force your soul to watch as I burn them all!" He raged loudly, slamming his sword into the shore as Naruto climbed higher in to the air.

Sasuke grinned tightly. The battle was by no means won, but Zabuza had apparently decided it would be best to stay off of land. Whatever Naruto had done it must have caused that massive explosion. Now it was Naruto's turn to go on the offensive.

Said blond was thinking furiously. Right now, he couldn't get to Zabuza, and Zabuza couldn't get to him. That needed to change partway, but Naruto needed to make sure that Tazuna and the others stayed safe, so simply obliterating the surrounding area to kill the swordsman wouldn't do. He had to figure something out.

He decided to buy himself a bit of time first, molding several handfuls of clay. A small flock of birds surrounded him.

The birds, as one, charged towards Zabuza. They came from all directions, above and every side, and followed him very well, keeping him distracted as he ran to and fro across the lake.

Zabuza cursed. He wasn't sure what these birds would do if they hit him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. _"I gotta get to that kid, but how?" _Looking at the massive sword he had embedded in the shore, he suddenly had an idea. He put out an extra burst of speed and ran towards the blade.

"Hes lost it!" Kiba gasped.

"Is he coming for us?" Sakura snapped.

Sasuke stared numbly as he realized the missing nin's intentions.

Zabuza jumped on top of the hilt of his sword, but did not grab it. He used it as a springboard, launching himself into the air too fast for the eye to track.

Towards Naruto.

Naruto desperately molded clay, but Zabuza was coming too fast. The swordsman slammed into the bird and struck its underbelly, dissolving it. Naruto fell past Zabuza, but failed to get a grip on the enemy ninja's leg.

Zabuza laughed and struck out with his leg. The downward blow redoubled Naruto's momentum, and the blond slammed hard into the ground, coughing up blood. He struggled to his feet as Zabuza landed a few feet away. A feral grin lit his face. "Finally, its over. Katsu!"

The leg Naruto had gone for when fighting Zabuza exploded.

For Naruto had wasted no movement, no time, when fighting his opponent. Realizing that he could no longer stay airborne, he had intentionally gone for a hold he couldn't have ever gotten, instead leaving behind traces of explosives up and down Zabuza's pant leg. The missing nin fell heavily, he right leg burned and charred.

"You... god... damn freaks..." Zabuza growled. "Why can't you just die! Water Dragon Jutsu!" A massive plume of water shot over the shoreline, taking the shape of a dragon as it went. It slammed into Naruto and sent him flying past his teammates into a large boulder. He fell to the ground and lay still.

Hinata gasped and looked to Kurenai for permission. When her sensei nodded, she immediately went to Naruto to treat him.

Sasuke gulped and dropped into a ready stance. After all the beatings Zabuza had taken, after his leg was charred to a crisp, he still had it in him to call up a high level jutsu. And now he was on his feet, he had his sword, and was coming towards them. "Kiba. We need to stop him now. Get Akamaru ready, I don't think were going to enjoy this part at all." Kiba nodded and paled slightly as the puppy once again took on a more feral aspect of Kiba. The three circled Zabuza once again.

Shino sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, I can't help them Kurenai sensei. After the first time my bugs almost got him, he's been running a steady flow of water over his skin. Any bugs I send against him just get washed off." Kurenai nodded and prepared herself. She had little skill with taijutsu, but she had to be ready to help those two if they couldn't take him.

No one even thought about backing down. Not now. It was far too late to surrender.

Sasuke rushed towards the advancing ninja. He launched a staccato series of punches towards Zabuza, but the missing nin blocked every one of them with contemptuous ease. He side kicked the young Uchiha, sending him flying into the brush.

Kiba stopped as he saw Sasuke's advance destroyed. He turned to the transformed Akamaru and signaled him. "Tsuuga!" The twin spinning forms thundered towards Zabuza. The swordsman was limping slightly and winced as he pulled out his sword. He held up the flat of the blade as they collided with him, driving him back, but he stayed on his feet. Akamaru and Kiba fell in front of him, and immediately launched into a taijutsu assault, coming from two directions at the same time. Zabuza blocked Kiba's punch and grabbed his arm, swinging him around into Akamaru. The two fell in a tangled heap, and Zabuza raised his sword to kill both of them in one sweep before they could regain their feet.

"Katsu!" The weak cry took them all by surprise. The ground under Zabuza's feet suddenly exploded out violently, and he looked over to see Naruto standing weakly in the distance. "Damn brat..." Kiba and Akamaru went to intercept him as he regained his feet and charged towards Naruto, but Zabuza was done with them. Another water dragon shot out from the lake and sent them spinning across the shore.

Naruto readied himself. He was badly injured, even he knew that. His right arm had been dislocated and he'd had to pop it back into place, so it was practically useless in a fight, and a few of his ribs were cracked according to Hinata's diagnosis. He was going to die now. But he would take his opponent with him. As Zabuza swung his sword, Naruto ducked under it and charged towards the missing nin's burned leg and punched it. Zabuza winced, but was too experienced to put any weight on the other foot. Naruto, already inside his guard, had only one choice, the one he'd hoped he wouldn't have to make.

He grabbed onto Zabuza's arms and began molding clay. The clay wrapped around the missing nin's arms like putty, spreading all along his length. "Zabuza, you should never underestimate your opponent. We die now, together." Just as Naruto prepared to detonate the clay enveloping them, he heard a meaty noise. He looked at Zabuza again.

Two needles had sprouted in Zabuza's throat, expertly placed. Zabuza's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground.

Naruto looked around, senses on high alert. He didn't need to look for a new opponent, however. A ninja wearing a mask bearing the marks of a Kiri hunter-nin dropped out of the trees. "I felt that now would be as good a time as any to step in. You finally had him locked up long enough for me to take him down. I have to hand it to you though, I really didn't think you could hold him well enough."

Naruto's brow twitched at the backhanded compliment. "Is that your way of saying 'Nice job?' Why didn't you step in earlier, anyway? We really could have used the help, as you might have noticed." The Kiri ninja sighed.

"This man slaughtered my squad a week ago. Fighting together, we were still killed one by one. I'm the only survivor, and he thought I was dead. My ultimate mission was the death of Zabuza Momochi, and I was not going to fail." The ninja looked up. "And none of you were in fatal danger, which surprised me. Considering how angry you made him, he still didn't fight nearly as hard as he did when faced with four chuunin, and your just genin. And I truly would have stepped in if one of you were truly about to die."

Naruto snorted. "I suppose I should thank you. I was almost forced to blow myself to smithereens to kill him. I really would have if you hadn't stepped in, and it makes me rather glad you did." By now, the others had gathered up, Sasuke and Kiba limping slightly, and Akamaru unconscious. Naruto winced as his ribs ached. "Could you dispose of the body now? We have a mission to finish."

Naruto didn't know how, but he could've sworn the hunter-nin was smirking at him from under the mask. "But of course." The oddly androgenous figure grabbed onto Zabuza's arm and disapeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kiba looked around. "Why do I feel like something has been forgotten? You know, something that you know you need, but its not all that important right now?" Naruto snorted, and pointed behind Kiba. Kakashi was still lying flat on the ground, stiff as a board, eyes filled with terror. Kurenai sighed as she went over to him. This genjutsu would take a while to dispel.

As soon as he was sure neither jonin would notice, Naruto unleashed a quick burst of Kyuubi's chakra, not even enough for the cloak to begin to form. His ribs mended a little faster, and several of the muscle cramps faded. He sighed in relief.

He looked into the fading mist, and realized he was being spoken to. It was Hinata. "N-Naruto, a-are you all right?"

He looked at her blankly for a few seconds as he put on his gloves.

Then he passed out.

Naruto was in a sewer again. The stinking sewer of his mind. The ninja sighed. It _had _to say something bad about him that the depths of his mind were a sewer. He followed the red glow to its usual source. "Did you want to talk about that fight Kyuubi? Or did I? I seem to have forgotten."

A deep sigh echoed through the chamber. **"I did. That fight didn't go right. If what the hunter-nin said was true, then Zabuza should have slaughtered us. I don't understand it. And then there is the hunter-nin himself... at least I think its a he. Do you know what I'm talking about, Uzumaki?"**

Naruto nodded. "He took the body away. And he didn't actually step in until it was clear that Zabuza was about to die in the first place. Until I trapped him with the clay bonds, he had the advantage."

The giant fox nodded. **"Exactly. Naruto, I know you are strong, but we must become stronger still if we are to fight him again. The fact that he managed to nullify the abilities of both Kurenai **_**and **_**Kakashi were more luck than anything else, but we can't take any chances. It is possible we are entirely misreading this situation, but somehow I doubt that. We must expect the return of Zabuza, this time backed up with the mysterious hunter-nin."**

Naruto nodded. "So we are in agreement. The next few days will be spent in total training?"

**"Yes."**

"Then I should probably get back to my regularly scheduled unconsciouness. See ya Kyuu."

Kyuubi glared at the retreating figure. _**"Kyuu... arrogant little fleshbag."**_

Naruto awoke a few minutes after they had arrived at Tazuna's house. Kakashi was up and about, though a there was still a bit of a wild look in his eye. Naruto groaned as he rose slowly. Everyone in the room stared at him like he was a zombie. "How long have I been out?"

Kurenai recovered first. "A few hours. You had multiple fractured ribs from continuing to fight Zabuza, and your chakra reserves were severely depleted. You shouldn't have woken up for a few days. Its a good thing you did though, because we've been discussing things, and we think Zabuza might still be alive."

Naruto groaned. "The hunter-nin?" Inwardly, he was laughing his ass off. He'd just finished this conversation with Kyuubi a few moments ago, and he was already having it again. Life's little jokes kept showing up.

Kurenai nodded. "So tomorrow, we begin to train. You've all done the tree climbing excercise, so instead we will focus on an extreme level of elemental manipulation." Naruto's eyes widened a little. Elemental manipulation was something he had very little skill in. "Each squad will rotate, one squad will be guarding Tazuna at all times, the other constantly training. If Zabuza's death was faked, then, no matter how skilled that hunter-nin was, Zabuza cannot possibly recover in less than ten days. So the next week will be training. After that, rest, and hopefully nothing." She sighed. "But for now, dinner is ready in a few minutes. Get decent before you come down." Naruto looked and realized he was only clad in his boxers and bandages. A lot of bandages, but not nearly enough. He blushed slightly and began gathering his clothes.

Dinner was a simple affair, but more than enough for the starving ninja. They dug greedily into the hearty broth that Tazuna's daughter Tsunami had prepared for them. The dinner seemed to be going, in the end, very well. Until _her _son came in.

"You're all going to die you know." The blank statement, made without any emotion, shocked them all.

Kiba responded immediately. "And how in hell would you know that? We beat off an opponent who should've destroyed us all, and most of us are fine." He winced as he put too much weight on his injured leg.

Inari stared at them. "Gato is invincible. No one can stop him. He has too much money, too many mercenaries. He'll just find someone stronger to hire, and send them. And he'll keep doing that until you're all dead."

Sakura could barely believe it. This kid was darker than anyone she'd ever met, and he was what, five? "Kid, listen here. Ninjas of that level are very hard to find, no matter how much money you have. The bridge will completed in less than three weeks, and there is almost no way someone _stronger _than Zabuza could be found and brought here in that time." She felt very proud of herselv, having infused logic into the arguement.

Inari shook his head more. "Don't be stupid. Things will only get worse. Gato's thugs will shut down the bridge, no matter if its finished or not. He'll trap you, kill you all, and then us for hiring you. You people don't know anything! You don't know anything about starving, or being attacked for no reason, or-" He was cut off as a chunk of the table Naruto was squeezing splintered into pieces in his grip.

Naruto turned to Tsunami. "Sorry about the table. I'm going to go out now." He walked out with a dark look on his face. Just as he was about to cross the thresh hold, however, Inari spoke again.

"Him especially. Look at him. Nice clothes, even manages to keep his _hair _clean after a life and death battle. He's never known pain in his life." Naruto froze. Before anyone could move, he had moved across the room to Inari, grabbed him, and slammed him into a wall.

"Brat. Shut up now." Naruto's voice had darkened, and it brooked no disagreement. "Now tell me, how old are you?"

"F-five?"

"Good answer. What did you do on your birthday this year?"

"We used the last bit of sugar we got for weeks to make a single cupcake. A single. Cupcake."

Naruto laughed, but it was devoid of humor, of anger, of anything. It was simply... empty. Dead.

"Do you know what I did my fifth birthday?" Inari shook his head, afraid to speak. "I didn't think so. The only present I got was a remotely detonated bomb that would have killed me if I hadn't showed it to someone who knew better. When that didn't work, I was kidnapped, nailed to a wall and tortured for twelve hours." He rolled up his sleeves, revealing scars that criscrossed his arms, two especially thick ones where the kunai had nailed him to a wall all those years ago. "So the next time you open your mouth kid, think about this." He dropped Inari roughly, and leaned down right next to him. "You don't know shit." With that, Naruto left.

(A/N) And chapter 5! The extreme slowness is due to how screwed up was the past few days. I couldn't even log in guys. Very sorry for the wait, please R&R! Oh, and I've been waiting to do that scene with Inari for _ages. _Hope you liked it! Next chapter is going to be very big storyline wise, and the next major, MAJOR splilt from storyline. And... sorry to all of you who have been praising my choice of pairing. I'm sorry, but I'm changing it. And the title, as my storyling is deviating too much for it to hold up. Pairing TBD, for now I'm taking it out of summary and thinking hard. Suggestions would be appreciated peeps. You'll see title change.


	6. Emergence

Emergence

(A/N) I'm back, people. I'm wracking my brains for a solution to the current pairing issue, and I've only come up with a few solutions. If this keeps up with no suggestions, I'm seriously gonna have to resort to Naru/Hina, which, though fluffy and cute, is a little too overdone for my tastes. So remember to keep messaging and reviewing your ideas! This chapter is semi-guaranteed to **blow your mind!** ITS LIKE POWERTHIRST!

Naruto strode angrily out the door, slamming it behind him. "Fucking brat..." He took a deep breath and sat down on the porch. To think that some kid who knew nothing about him would start making assumptions... it was disgusting. Naruto sighed. Time for some stress relief.

A few hours later, Naruto stood in the middle of a large clearing, breathing heavily. The area around was pockmarked with craters, splinters, and a few still burning stumps. Naruto began walking back to the cabin when he heard someone behind him gasp. He turned.

A girl about his own age stood behind him. She had black hair reaching to her waist, and wore a pink kimono. She had a basket in one hand. "E-excuse me sir. I hadn't realized there was someone here. I was just gathering herbs and..." She stopped her babbling as Naruto turned his attention on her.

"There is no need for that. I needed to relieve some stress is all. This just happened to be the most convenient place away from civilization. What herbs were you looking for?" Naruto's response apparently took the girl off guard.

"Holsh, miln, and curlsh."

"Those are..." Naruto thought for a second. "Holsh is a painkiller in its distilled form, very powerful. Miln is a purple flower that speeds recovery from combat wounds, and curlsh is a chakra replenisher. What do you need those for, miss?"

She paled for a moment. "I'm a boy." The response seemed automatic as she was obviously deep in thought about something else.

"Ah. Excuse me for not recognizing you earlier, hunter-san."

"What?"

"Please. The way you acted was way to calm for someone coming across a clearing that has clearly been recently destroyed by the person standing in it. Those herbs are all used by shinobi, and the way you held yourself was that of a ninja, not a civilian. You weren't that easy to find out, but I had trouble recognizing you." As Naruto continued to speak, the boy grew paler and dropped his weight slowly. "So why do you need medical supplies? And weren't you supposed to take proof of Zabuza's death back to Kiri? Unless you lied about somethign along the way?"

His questioning finally hit home. The boy sprinted forward, almost blurring towards Naruto. _"Shit. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I'm still a little low on chakra from the fight with Zabuza and relieving all that stress, and I'm out of premade clay." _Naruto took a few steps back and formed handseals. "Air Bullet!" A solidified blast of air shot towards the unmasked hunter-nin, smashing him backwards. He didn't stay down long, moving even faster than before, needles appearing in his hand. As he approached he moved for a fatal attack with the needles, which Naruto intercepted with his kunai.

"Very good, ninja. You unmasked me, and managed to force me to increase my speed all the way. But now, you cannot use jutsu, whereas I can." He began forming handseals rapidly with one hand. "Water Needles!" Moisture from the ground and air suddenly solidified around them into hundreds of needles surrounding them. They all rushed towards Naruto at once.

"Oh shit..." Naruto jumped, forcing as much chakra into his feet as he could. He still barely managed to get out before the trap closed. Temporarily freed of his opponent, he formed a stronger jutsu to buy him some time. "Great Breakthrough!" The massive blast of air turned a mile long stretch of forest in front of him into a small valley as it ripped away from him. The enemy ninja, however, merely ran around it and got behind Naruto.

Naruto turned around only to recieve a punch to the face, momentarily stunning him. That moment was all the mysterious ninja needed. "Ice Spears!" Dozens of icicles impaled Naruto along his arms and legs, pinning him to a tree. "You forced me to use my bloodline. That is more than anyone else has forced out of me in years." He sighed. "You would have been a great ninja. It is a shame I have to do this. But before you die, know my name. Know the name of the one who killed you. For I am the last of the Hyoton users, Haku." Another spear of ice formed in between them, and shot towards Naruto's head.

_"I can't die... not yet..." _Suddenly, time seemed to slow. The spear was barely moving. At this rate, it would be weeks before it struck.

_**"Brat, there is only one way for you to get out of this alive!" **_The voice shook Naruto.

_"Kyuubi"?_

**"**_**Who else? Listen. Right now, you are a jinchuuriki. That makes you stronger than most, but it is not the ultimate state we can achieve together. The next stage is Hanyou, or half-demon. It requires us to meld completely. Our minds will remain separate, but our power will combine, expanding exponentially. It will give you the power to win this fight, but your control will be shot to hell for a while. You'd have to start from the beginning again on that."**_

_"Do it then!" _Naruto screamed in his head. His acceptance of the idea was all it took to happen.

For Haku, it was a nightmare. His simple scouting mission had turned into a full fledged battle against one of the strongest opponents he'd fought in a while. He'd won handily, and no reinforcements had arrived.

But now, just as he was about to kill the boy, he suddenly explodes in red light. A shell was wrapped around him, that same, awful red light obscuring his target from view. "What the hell is going on?" He was conflicted. Should he stay and try to finish the fight? Or report this development to Zabuza? Before he could make a decision, it was made for him. The red light receded, revealing his opponent again.

Naruto opened his eyes. They were red, pupils slit like a cat, or... a fox. His fingernails extended into claws, and the whisker marks on his face had deepened into dark tattoo like lines on his face. His golden hair was shot with streaks of red, and his canines were elongated. "You..." Even his voice had darkened. Naruto Uzumaki had been changed forever, and the world shook at his coming.

Haku gasped as killing intent radiated from Naruto. It poured from him like water, almost paralyzing the assassin. "What are you?"

Naruto smiled. "Me? I'm nobody."

Kakashi suddenly paled. _"That last blast... and this chakra I'm sensing... they aren't normal." _"Kurenai!"

Said jonin immediately ran towards him. "You sense it too, Kakashi?"

"Yes, let's get going. Naruto is a couple of miles out, we need to get here as fast as we can." Both instructors were already moving towards the door.

On the roof, Hinata was using her Byakugan to check the perimeter. She couldn't see anything, but at the edge of her vision, _something _was happening. Something big. She bit her tongue slightly as she saw Kurenai and Kakashi both heading towards it. Hinata gulped. She had to get the others together.

Haku barely dodged a punch aimed at his head. Instead, Naruto's fist impacted with a tree, shattering it completely. _"This is bad! I've got to get out of here, I've got to warn Zabuza. But I can't even hurt him anymore, he's too fast."_ He dodged another flurry of blows as he thought. _"I have no choice but to use that." _

Haku jumped onto a tree branch above Naruto. The blond stared at him impassively, killing intent radiating from him. "You are a credit to Konoha. With genin like you, they will soon find themselves with a particularly talented set of ninjas on their hands. I will warn leave you on one last note. If you continue this, Zabuza and I will kill you." A mirror made completely of ice rose in front of him. Thought Naruto didn't know it, a similar mirror was located miles away. "Goodbye." Naruto lunged at Haku as he moved towards the mirror, but couldn't catch him before he hit the mirror. The ice rippled like water, and Haku was pulled through it, disappearing completely.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed. He slammed his fist into the mirror, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "Fucking ice user. Fucking teleporter!" He continued to rant at the now empty clearing as Kakashi and Kurenai arrived.

"Naruto what's-" Kurenai was cut off mid sentence as she saw Naruto's transformation. His long ponytail streaked with red, his fingernails claws, his canines almost an inch long... Everything about him screamed fox. "Naruto," she began again, "What happened to you?"

Naruto turned back and grinned. It would have been reassuring if it hadn't revealed those teeth again. Suddenly the smile faltered. He gave Kurenai a dazed look. "What's going... on..." Naruto stared into a spot somewhere between himself and Kurenai. "Shit. Not... again..." With that, he passed out.

Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura ran through the woods, bouncing off of trees as they ran towards where Hinata had directed them. Suddenly Hinata noticed something. "Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei have stopped! And that disturbance just faded out. I can sense Naruto, but he feels weak... very weak."

Sasuke stared at her. "What do you mean it faded out?"

"I mean it was like a giant outpouring of chakra, chakra like I've never seen before. It seemed very intense, very powerful, and just kept flowing and flowing until a few moments ago. Then it just stopped. And as soon as it stopped, I could sense Naruto's chakra signature again, thought much fainter than it normally is. We have to hurry."

They picked up the pace even more, and intercepted their senseis a few minuts later. Naruto was slung over Kakashi's back. "What happened to Naruto?" were the first words out of Hinata's mouth. Then she saw him. "Oh... oh my." His transformation was even clearer to her than most, as she knew what he looked like inside and out thanks to her Byakugan. His chakra system had hardened, channels expanded, and his chakra itself was no longer the blue color she associated with him so mch, but, strangely enough, purple. "What happened to him?"

"He was ambushed by an enemy ninja. That's why he's passed out anyway. As for the rest, we'll have to wait for him to wake up." Hinata could tell that she wasn't being told everything, but acquiesced. They got back to Tazuna's house, where Kiba and Shino were waiting. Both rushed to see Naruto.

Kurenai took Kakashi into a side room. "Kakashi, will we have to tell them? Its pretty apparent whats happening, and I don't think just saying 'oh he's got an unknown bloodline' is going to cut it. They're too smart for that."

Kakashi sighed. "Its up to Naruto. We know that he knows already, adn he has the right to let anyone he wants know. He mighth have to tell them, but if he doesn't want to, we stick to the bloodline line."

It turned out that they had a while to wait. It was nearly twelve hours before Naruto woke up again. The first thing he saw was Kurenai and Kakashi standing over him. "Naruto. What happened to you?"

Naruto sighed. "I had two choices. I could take the Kyuubi into myself fully, or I could die."

"What exactly do you mean take the Kyuubi into yourself?"

"Basically, the way the seal is designed, the Kyuubi and my own chakra are kept seperate unless I'm under extreme stress. This makes sure the Kyuubi cannot directly alter my mind or body. However, when I agreed to take the Kyuubi into myself, the Kyuubi was given a portion of my mind to take up permanent residence. Teh seal still restricts him, buit not as much as before. On the other hand, our power is now pooled, evenly distributed between both of us. I got a huge power boost, and it was enough to keep me alive. On the other hand, my control's been shot to hell. I'll need to focus on that before Zabuza comes back."

Kakashi started. "Were not sure if that will happen or not yet."

"No, we are." Naruto contradicted him. "That ninja I fought in the woods was gathering healing herbs, and he told me just before he left that Zabuza was going to come back and kill us all."

Kakashi groaned and buried his head in his hands. Kurenai spoke next. "This brings us to the last topic, and it could very well be the most important. What do you want us to tell the rest? Are you ready for knowledge of the Kyuubi to become available to them? Or would you rather to continue to keep it as a secret?"

Naruto sat silently. Was he ready for people to know? He knew that his physical changes were frighteningly obvious, and they would probably figure it out on their own eventually. But if they found out from him, how would it change? He sat there for the better part of a minute. "Don't tell them." Kakashi sighed. Not the answer he had hoped for, but not entirely unexpected, all things considered. "I'll tell them myself."

Naruto stood up and walked over to the door. He walked slowly down the stairs into the main house where the rest of the team sat. "Guys, I've got something to tell you..."

Explaining everything and answering the questions took almost two hours. Kakashi and Kurenai stood by, watching the reactions the whole time. Sakura seemed shocked, but not truly repulsed. Hinata seemed to feel sorry for his plight, and held a great respect for him. Shino and Kiba both felt respect for him, though they showed it very differently. Sasuke...

Naruto spoke up again after a silence. "So does anyone have any real problem with me having made a pact with a demon?"

The question hung heavy in the air. Sasuke was first to speak. "Not really. You did it to survive and gain power, both of which I can understand. It hasn't changed you mentally in any way I can tell, so I really don't mind at all."

Kiba spoke up immediately. "Exactly. The only thing that really changed as far as I can tell is now you smell like a fox. Nasty!" Light laughter echoed around the room.

Sakura looked less certain. "Well... its sort of scary... but you're still just Naruto. So I don't really have a problem." Hinata merely nodded her agreement. Shino waved the question aside.

"Why should I have a problem? Your a teammate and a comrade. That's all that matters to me."

Kakashi wasn't sure how to read that, but was relieved in the end. None of them had had truly negative reactions to the revelation. Truly, if only the last generation had been as wise as this one, Naruto might have led a semi normal life.

Tears blurred Naruto's vision. "Thanks guys."

Kurenai chose that moment to make her entrance. "Now that we've gotten that mushiness out of the way, its time to get to business. Hinata, Sakura, you're coming with me to work on medical jutsus. Shino, you, Kiba, and Sasuke will go with Kakashi to work on taijutsu and combat chakra." She turned to Naruto. "And as for you, thanks to what you did, your chakra control is basically gone. You'll be doing the tree climbing exercise until you can get it with the leaf on your forehead again. Thanks to intelligence Naruto has gathered, we now know that we won't be expecting Zabuza for almost a week and a half. We have until then to be prepared for him, his little ally, and any other ninjas he can pull together on short notice. Let's go!"

As they left to begin training, Naruto found a tree that looked like it could take him trying to run up it overloaded with chakra. He grinned. It was good to have freinds.

Meanwhile, many miles away, Haku had finally made it back. He collapsed through the door frame, approaching the bed. "Zabuza, I have very bad news."

The figure groaned and slowly turned. "I don't think I can take it right now Haku. I can barely move, Gato keeps coming and pestering me, and I haven't gotten my painkillers yet. What is it?" The killer intent barely fazed the ice user.

"The boy who used explosives. I ran into him earlier in the woods, and he recognized me. I fought him, and was about to kill him when he transformed. He became much more powerful, easily twice as strong as before." He cleared his throat and gulped. "I was forced to use my bloodline to its full potential just to escape. He now knows everything I can do, and has most likely concluded that you area live as well."

Zabuza closed his eyes. "That just fucks everything up, doesn't it? I guess I'll have to go all out this time then. Oh, and Haku? Gather those three. They might come in handy this time around."

Haku had to stop himself from grinning. With those three with them, it wouldn't even be a fight, no matter what the strange blond brought to the battle. "Yes master Zabuza."

(A/N) Another one done, another one done, another one bites the dust.


	7. The Calm before the Storm

The Calm Before the Storm

(A/N) Hello! I'm back, and its a beautiful snowy day outside! As I write this, I am curled up in a thick blanket drinking hot chocolate. So if too many warm fuzzy feelings get transferred, and you feel the need to offset it, please read my new story as it progresses. Its _dark. _

Naruto stared up at the tree, panting. Crater-like holes dotted up the lower half, almost reaching the top, from where he had failed to restrain his chakra enough. He grimaced slightly as he sat down. "You know, Kyuubi, I think retraining as a Hanyou is harder than it was to do this in the first place."

Laughter echoed through his mind was the only response he received. Swearing under his breath, Naruto ran at the tree again, getting another half foot before falling to the ground again. A sheen of sweat matted his hair down, and his shirt clung to him tightly. He'd already taken his trademark jacket off. The fox insignia on the back was now hung over a branch nearby. The alarm clock sitting next to it dinged lightly. Naruto had to resist an urge to throw a kunai at the object restricting his training time.

After he had spent the entire first day, straight through the night, out training, Kakashi had set the alarm clock out, and said that if he didn't come back for each meal when it went off, he would come and get Naruto himself.

Naruto got to his feet, retrieving his jacket and the abominable machine, and headed back towards Tazuna's house.

Dinner was a simple affair, a plain stew with bread and rice, but all the ninja present tore into it like starving animals. Tsunami watched with her mouth hanging slighly open as enough food to feed her family for three days dissapeared into the mouths of the hungry shinobi. _"They really had better make sure this bridge finishes, or were all going to starve..." _

Inari noticed none of this. As he had been at meals for the last two days, he sat silent, staring at Naruto unblinkingly. When he finished his food, he went to his room and closed the door. He hadn't spoken more than three consecutive words to anyone since Naruto had returned from fighting Haku, which Tsunami didn't know how to take. Her son had always been brooding, but never this much. He had become almost completely enclosed in his private bubble of silence, and nothing could penetrate it.

As the meal finished, Naruto grabbed his jacket. "Hey Naruto, where do you think you're going?" Sakura asked.

"To train more. I'm not getting there fast enough, and I'm eating. I can go without sleep for a few days." He turned to Kakashi. "With your permission?"

Kakashi sighed. Naruto was smart, determined, and had endurance in such quantities it was barely believable. If he said he could go without sleep, he could. "Fine. Just make sure you coem back for breakfast."

Naruto smiled and left.

Sweat poured from Haku's brow as he trained furiously. Bouncing from tree to tree, randomly launching senbon, dodging traps he had had his Mizu Bunshin set up earlier, and working on his timing with his mirrors, he trained through the night. That boy had beaten him, and was probably even now training to become more powerful. He had to achieve it. The next state. His Hyoton was at its limit, it seemed, but Haku knew from experience that no bloodline ended at one stage. None of them truly did.

His just hadn't been found yet.

But find it he would. He had a week before Zabuza would be healthy again, and he would use every minute of it.

As he finished his latest run, he paused, thinking about what he was doing. The mirrors, the ice needles, the spears, all were based on what he had seen his mother use.

That was it.

He began thinking furiously. The Hyoton bloodline was complete mastery over ice. Why should it be limited like this? It couldn't be. He simply hadn't had the imagination to use it fully before. A cruel grin split his face. It was time to get to work.

Naruto smiled dully at the setting sun, completely ignoring the buzzing of the alarm clock. From the top of the tree, he gazed out across the wave. A leaf was attacked to each of his joints, and one on his forehead. And to think he still had a week. He hopped to the ground lightly. Tomorrow would be hard.

The next day, Naruto rejoined his teammates in jutsu training. Kakashi looked at the four of them as they gathered around. "Well then, Sasuke, I want you practicing your lightning and fire jutsus. Work on speed and reducing size while maintaining full power. Shino, your clan jutsus are something only you can work on. Kiba, work on that earth jutsu I showed you. Naruto, come with me. I need to show you what you're going to be working on." The four genin nodded and split up, Sasuke heading to the only clearing big enough to safely work on Katon jutsus. Shino gathered his bugs to himself and began doing... something. Kiba ran off to a section of forest they had found with rockier grounds, perfect for Doton practice.

And Naruto began to follow Kakashi deeper into the forest. Kakashi stopped after they had gone about half a mile and turned to Naruto. "Naruto, you have an extremely high wind affinity, and a low fire affinity. You have been focusing a lot on using you wind techniques, but I've noticed something. Every technique you know so far, even what Deidara taught you, is based entirely around offense, with the exception of Kawarimi." He pulled out a scroll. "I'm going to correct that. The third jutsu down is the one you'll be working on."

Naruto looked at the scroll, wandering what sort of wind technique was based around defense. As far as he had learned so far, wind was a primarily offensive element, almost as much as earth was defensive. As he read the description, his eyes widened. "Kakashi-sensei... this jutsu..."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. An absolute defense jutsu. Learn it well, I have a feeling you'll be needing it.

Naruto turned back to the scroll and began reading the description of it. "Kazetate no jutsu, eh? Wind shield sounds pretty nice." He dropped his weight. "Lets get started!" He began to focus wind chakra throughout his body, not focusing it like normal, letting it flow through him. He began expelling it from everywhere at once, and began to spin. At first, the stream of wind blades formed a wall around him, completely cocooning him. After less than a second, however, holes began to appear.

"Stop now." Naruto ceased his spin as he heard Kakashi's voice. "Not bad for a first try, Naruto, but it still needs a lot of work. You should be able to maintain this for five seconds, adn unleash it at a moment's notice. Otherwise it is useless." He pulled out that orange book he was always reading. "Now, start again, and remember to keep the flow of chakra going _everywhere. _Not just most places."

Naruto nodded and began again.

At sundown, all the ninjas met at Tazuna's house again, and began comparing notes on their jutsu training. Kiba was extremely frustrated. "This is driving me crazy! Kakashi keeps saying how I have this amazing earth affinity, but I can't even make the earth wall!"

Sasuke nodded. "I know what you feel like. That new Raiton jutsu isn't working quite right. It keeps backfiring." Naruto noticed a line of burns extending up his arms for the first time.

Shino had nothing to say, but Naruto had plenty. "I've got this new wind jutsu I'm working on. It forms a shield of wind blades around me when I spin, but holes keep appearing for some reason. I can't quite keep up expelling chakra from everywhere at once."

Hinata started. "You spin for that jutsu? That sounds just like the Kaiten."

Naruto blinked at her. "Heavenly Spin? What's that?"

"Its one of our clans signature jutsus. The user expels chakra from every point on their body simultaneously, and spins. It creates a sphere of chakra around us that deflects all incoming attacks and jutsus. Its considered one of the most powerful techniques in our clan." She rushed out the next part. "I learned it before we left, while I was training. If you like, I could show you a few things about it. The theory is probably the same, just different types of chakra."

Naruto smiled. "Of course Hinata. I'd love any sort of help at this point."

Hinata turned to Kurenai. "Kurenai-sensei, may I help Naruto train tomorrow with his new jutsu?"

"Of course Hinata. You've come farther than I had expected in the medical jutsu, and I really don't have anything else to show you as far as that goes."

Hinata released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She could help Naruto for a change!

Five days remain.

Naruto and Hinata went to his training spot. The clearing had a small pit in it where Naruto had been practicing, as the jutsu slowly carved out holes in the landscape after repeated uses.

"So Naruto, show me what you can do right now." Hinata's voice had changed slightly, her lack of confidence completely gone. This was something she knew about, and she knew she knew about it. The difference was extreme: she even held herself differently.

Naruto dropped into the strange stance and focused his chakra, spinning faster and faster until he was wrapped in a cocoon of wind chakra again. Hinata activated her Byakugan and focused to see exactly what he was doing. She had to bite back a gasp at what she saw.

Naruto was glowing like a beacon, his chakra was so intense. The sheer volume of chakra he had should have been humanly impossible. _"But from what he explained, he's no longer entirely human anyway... I guess that could explain it." _She quickly refocused. The jutsu went well for perhaps three seconds, but then gaps began appearing. At first they were small, but grew larger over the next two seconds until he dropped it. By then, the holes were the size of fists and located all over the wind screen. Hinata sighed. "Naruto, how are you focusing the chakra expulsion?"

Naruto frowned and thought. "I wrap myself in it, I guess you could say. Why?"

"Do you keep expelling more as you go along, or just start with a set amount?"

"Just a set amount. I tried expelling continuously, but its too hard."

Hinata frowned. "Kaiten requires continuous expulsion of chakra, which is why the sphere is so big. That's what makes it dangerous. Right now, your Kazetate only creates a shell, which _would _deflect incoming weapons, but it doesn't affect anything beyond a few inches of your body. Try simply blasting chakra out and spinning."

Naruto frowned. "I'll try." He dropped his stance again, and began. Hinata took a few steps back.

The chakra began to shoot off of Naruto, flowing freely from him like a fountain. As he began to spin, a sphere forme, almost twelve feet in diameter. Hinata had to jump back to avoid being caught on the edge. Not a single hole appeared in the sphere. After he spun out for the whole five seconds, he surveyed the wreckage of the clearing. The area around him was sliced to bits. A rock that Naruto occasionally took his breaks on had been sliced to pieces, and all the vegetation around him had been reduced to a green mush by the intense forces. He looked at Hinata. "Was that supposed to happen?"

She recovered her composure. "I guess. It looked like the Kaiten, but all the Kaiten does is repel objects. _That _was something a lot more dangerous. Regardless of how the jutsu was supposed to turn out, you got it right." She smiled at him warmly. "Good job, Naruto."

As they returned to the house, Kakashi seemed suitably impressed by the results of Naruto's jutsu. "Normally all it does is form a cocoon like you were doing at first, Naruto. What you did by fusing the Kaiten with it increased its effectiveness by a lot." He had a thoughtful look on what was visible of his face. "We might even need to change the name of the jutsu for that. And if we do, then you've created a new jutsu in your first year as a genin."

Naruto scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. "Its mostly Hinata who deserves any credit. She was the one who had the idea in the first place."

A smile tugged at Kurenai's lips. It looked like there was a lot more to Hinata than Hiashi thought. Very few people would take the idea of something as hard to do as Kaiten and feel the need to apply it to any spinning technique. Then she frowned again. Two days left. What was left to do in two days?

She made a hand signal to Kakashi. He nodded slightly. "Alright you two, get out of here." The two genin walked out to head back to their team. "So what's up Kurenai?"

She pursed her lips slightly. "Kakashi, I've been thinking. All of them now have learned and mastered, if not perfected their jutsus. What are we going to do for the next two days? Thats when Zabuza is supposed to come."

Kakashi sighed deeply. "At this point, were in what I like to call Murphy's Event Schedule, based off of Murphy's Law. Since we have spare time before the terrible event, we should act like each day we expect Zabuza to return with whatever help he's gathered up. Until he does turn up, we go on high alert." He adjusted his headband, making sure it covered his eye. "I have the feeling this is going to be a fight like we haven't been through since the last Great Shinobi War."

Out of time.

They rose from their beds slowly. All six genin got dressed in silence, falling into formation with their jonin instructors as they waited for Tazuna. Shino stayed behind as they went to the bridge, just in case Gato tried to go for Tazuna's family.

The rest moved in grim silence towards the bridge. This was the day Haku had named. The day Zabuza would, for sure, be ready to strike. It was also the day that, barring outside interference, the bridge would be finished.

As they traveled, they checked their supplies. Hinata and Sakura went through their medical kits, checking bandages, healing ointments, and making sure they had disinfectant. Naruto checked his pouches, making sure that his clay was secure. Sasuke and Kiba checked their weapons, inspecting each shuriken and kunai for damage.

They arrived on the bridge, and breathed a sigh of relief. The workers were all working diligently at their tasks, chatting quietly amongst themselves as usual. That relief evaporated as a fog bank rolled in, thicker than they had ever seen. Screams echoed through the mist, and they had to restrain Tazuna to keep him from running to his workers. The mist suddenly dissipated, as fast as it had come, revealing dozens of figures slumped in pools of blood- and five on their feet. Standing at the front was Zabuza, immediately recognizable. To his side stood Haku, who hadn't even bothered with the mask this time. He was entirely focused on Naruto.

The other three figures were truly strange. One was hunched over, his shaggy brown hair falling well past his shoulders, and a hump on his back. Another was completely wrapped in a cloak, so much so that not a single bit of skin was visible. He wore a katana on each hip. The last was a solid wall of muscle, standing easily seven feet tall, and twice as wide as Kakashi, none of it fat. He had a feral grin, and not a single hair on his head.

"Well well, we've got even numbers. How about that? Where's the freak with the bugs? I've been wanting to get him back for that for a while." Zabuza broke the silence at last.

"Shino is making sure that Gato doesn't interfere with our fight. Who're your friends? They look like a pretty sorry bunch." Kakashi immediately responded.

A nonexistent eyebrow twitched. "I'm surprised you don't recognize them. My compatriot in the cloak is Geshada, of the shadow blade." The hooded figure inclined his head. "This one has no name, but we call him Fenrir." he continued, pointing to the hunchback. "And my final friend here is the legendary brawler of Iwagakure, Handon." Zabuza unslung his sword. "I'm in the mood for a game. How about a contest? We all pair off and take our turns fighting. But we get to pick our opponents."

Kakashi looked at Kurenai, who shrugged. "We accept. On the condition that I fight you." Kakashi's response seemed to please Zabuza.

Zabuza slung his sword back over his back. "I had planned on it from the beginning. So who wants to start?"


	8. To the Death

To the Death

Zabuza and his allies moved forward slowly. Each had a clear target, and each looked ready to kill them. _"I'm glad Kurenai thought to come under genjutsu. She can support us without being seen now." _Kakashi shook his head and focused on his opponent.

Zabuza had his sword out, and was slowly circling the silver haired jonin, looking for any openings. "Kakashi, Kakashi. You are one of the few people I've wanted to fight. Most of Kiri is absolutely terrified of you, you know."

Kakashi raised his headband, revealing a Sharingan eye. Sasuke stopped and stared for a moment before looking towards the man comign towards him again. "I'm not really that surprised. After what I did to their raiding parties a few years ago, when they tried to invade Ame, I'd be scared of me too."

Zabuza laughed lightly. "Twenty shinobi from their jonin and elite ANBU in three days. By yourself. Weren't those the days, Kakashi?"

"Not really. I was losing freinds rather quickly back then, something I don't intend to repeat."

Zabuza sighed in mock dismay. "A pity. I'd thought you and I were more similar than this. Oh well. Shall we begin then?"

Kakashi glared at him, Sharingan spinning ever faster. "Why not?"

Naruto and Haku stared at eachother on opposite sides of the bridge. The intensity of the killing intent pouring off of them seemed to make the air crackle. Haku shifted his weight less than an inch, and Naruto's eyes turned blazed purple as he charged. Haku flickered out of Naruto's rush, drawing senbon as he went. He threw a handful at Naruto, who deflected them with a kunai before continuing his headlong charge at Haku. Haku continued to dodge and throw senbon, neither able to land a single hit on the other.

Naruto stopped. "It appears that we have to step this up from a taijutsu battle if we wish for it to ever end."

Haku nodded. "Indeed it does. What is your first move?"

An evil grin split Naruto's feral face. "Watch this." He removed his gloves and tossed them to the side, and the mouths on either hand began spewing clay. In less than five seconds, the clay falcon was completed. Naruto hopped on its back, and it flew into the air. "Your move Haku."

A grin identical to Naruto's split Haku's face. This was exactly what he had been preparing for. "Hitaka no jutsu!" As he spoke, water seemed to jump off of the bridge and solidify... into a falcon exactly like the one Naruto was sitting on. Naruto watched open mouthed as Haku rose into the air. "Let it begin!" He cried, as he pelted Naruto with senbon.

Naruto cursed and forced his falcon into a steep dive. This would be a problem

Kiba watched slowly as the hunchback known as Fenrir slowly walked towards him. The shaggy man would have been eight feet tall if it weren't for his back, and even with the hunch, he towered over Kiba. Kiba decided that bravado and bluster were in order. "Hey ugly, back off now and we won't have to hurt you too badly!" Akamaru yipped from on his head.

Fenris raised his head, and for the first time, Kiba saw his face. The broad face and squashed nose were not so unusual. What he noticed most were the eyes.

Fenris' eyes were gold, with black pupils in the middle. Kiba took an involuntary step back.

"Little dog, don't go anywhere. Please. I'm very, very hungry right now." Fenris' voice seemed to reek of death. Kiba was on the verge of total panic, when he remembered something Kakashi had told him once.

_"Whenever you face a more experienced, older opponent, they will in general start by trying to panic you, using killer intent and scars to weave a web of terror. The first step to breaking this is to recognize that they are doing it, and then to ignore it. This generally throws them off balance."_

_"But sensei, how do you get past a really high level of killing intent like that?"_

_Kakashi seemed to go into deep thought. "Hmmmm. Well one of the time honored ways isto raise your own until its high enough that you can ignore theirs. For you though, the best would be a small, self inflicted wounds. The pain helps you focus."_

Kiba bit into his hand, drawing a little blood with his sharp fangs. Fenris seemed to freeze for a moment, before he resumed his approach. Now he appeared agitated. "What did you do that for? I could've let you live before. But now I see your blood. Thats not good for you. I don't like it when people bleed. Bleeding people need to bleed more. They never bleed enough."

As Fenris continued to rant to himself, Kiba wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

Sakura and Hinata looked at the approaching Geshada, thinking furiously. Why would Zabuza say that the sides were even when there were six of them and only five on Zabuza's side? It had something to do with Geshada for sure, as he was picking two targets, but what.

The cloaked man sighed deeply. "I can't believe this. My first fight in almost a year with Zabuza-san, and he has me fighting little girls. I get no respect these days."

Sakura snorted. "Oh yeah? Well there are two of us and only one of you. So don't get too cocky, or we'll beat you down!"

Geshada cocked his head. "Only one of me, eh? Are you sure about that?" He drew both swords , and suddenly his shadow split off. It shimmered in the air, and holes appeared for a moment, but it quickly solidified. It peeled itself off the ground and rose, leaving no connection between the swordsman and his shadow. Geshada handed it a sword. "I am Geshada of the shadow blade. I am never alone."

Hinata activated her Byakugan as Sakura paled. "Sakura, you hold off the real one. I think I can take out the shadow with my jyuuken, but I can't do it if both come after me."

Sakura nodded. "Hai."

The two stalked forward slowly. They were not the best of ninja, but they knew better than to let a swordsman take the offensive.

Sasuke eyed the massive wall of muscle before him. He carried no weapon pouches, no jutsu scrolls, and wore no armor. His only weapons appeared to be his fists, but Sasuke wasn't willing to take that on faith. _"Only one way to find out for sure." _He braced himself as he rushed in with punch aimed at Handon's torso, expecting the man to dodge, to evade, to do _something._ But he just stood there and took the punch full on. He merely laughed as Sasuke's strike collided.

Sasuke reeled back, clutching his hand. He felt like he had just hit a brick wall, and his punch had had about that much effect. The only option was jutsus. He jumped back from the still laughing Handon and formed a few hand seals. "Raitama no jutsu!" As he pushed his hands forward, several crackling balls of lightning shot out straight towards Handon. At this, Handon finally paid attention, jumping out of the way, only to have to twist in midair to avoid a pair of kunai. As he was about to land, he heard another shout from Sasuke. "Goukyakyuu no jutsu!" The massive fireball was heading straight towards him.

Just as it seemed certain that he would be incinerated, Handon grinned, pulled back his fist, and punched towards the fireball. A wave of pure force rippled out, dispelling the fire and sending Sasuke tumbling back. "Not bad at all kid, but not good enough. Let's dance!"

Sasuke swore loudly and jumped back. _"A shockwave? What kind of ability is that? I need to get the range!" _With this in mind, he slowed his retreat, allowing Handon to catch up again. Laughing crazily once again, he swung his hand again from a good ten feet away, and the wave of force once again rippled out. Sasuke jumped back again, and tracked the jutsu with his eyes. At ten feet, the shockwave spread out more, and by fifteen feet, it was no more than a strong breeze.

Sasuke jumped back to twenty feet. He had the range. Now he needed to take the offensive.

But that was easier said than done, and Sasuke continued to be pushed back. Glancing over his shoulder, Sasuke realized that Handon was pushing him towards the edge of the incomplete bridge. Sasuke was no more than fifty feet from the edge, and still being pushed back. As Sasuke saw the piles of discarded tools and building materials, an idea came to him.

The young Uchiha continued his headlong retreat until he came to the first pile of bricks. Handon, as expected, launched another shockwave directly at him, and Sasuke jumped on the bricks, flipping into the air over Handon. The brawler smiled and launched another shockwave straight up, blasting Sasuke higher into the air.

As all the air was forced from his lungs, a fighting grin split Sasuke's face. Perfect.

He began forming hand seals. "Raiyari!" A beam of lightning shot out of his hand straight down towards Handon. The brawler managed to begin moving before it struck him, but the electric bolt still ripped into his right arm. Handon's screams split the air as he fell to the ground Sasuke landed behind him and struck the knockout points behind his head, sending him unconscious to the ground.

The Uchiha stood panting, victorious, over the first serious opponent he'd fought one on one. A grin lit his face as he fell onto his back. _"Just five minutes rest. Then I see how the others are doing."_

Even as Sasuke battled with his opponent, Kiba was being hard pressed by Fenris. After ranting at him for several minutes, the hunchback had suddenly stopped talking, and his features seemed to warp ever so slightly. After a rush Kiba was hard pressed to dodge, they had become even more apparent.

The bent man's long fingers had slowly hardened and extended into curving, wicked claws, his teeth sharpening into fangs, his face extending. Hair shot out of his body all over, covering him completely. He appeared to be almost a wolf, but at the same time, held the canny intelligence of a ninja. Kiba had learned that the hard way early in their fight, and had a long, shallow cut across his chest to prove it.

Kiba snarled in frustration as the hunchback continued to advance, each strike coming faster than the last. Sweat began to blur his vision, and he knew he'd have to finish this quick.

"Juujin Bunshin!" At his cry, Akamaru jumped off and transformed into a more feral, though uninjured, version of Kiba. Kiba swallowed a soldier pill taken from his small pouch. They both dropped to all fours, grasping kunai between each knuckle to increase traction, and therefore speed.

They sprinted around Fenris until the moment came. Fenris faced directly inbetween them, unable to choose which target to strike at, with both on either side.

He couldn't have put himself in a worse position. "Getsuuga!" Both Kibas began to spin rapidly as they spun through the air, forming blue drills of force which slammed into the wolf like ninja. He was sent flying across the bridge as both drills pursued him, battering him mercilessly until he was knocked off of the bridge entirely. As Fenris dropped, his form shimmered slightly, revealing the hunchback from before, instead of the monster it transformed into. The hunched form looked at Kiba, winked, and hit the water. Kiba stared after him, wondering what the wink was for.

As he tried to stand up, realization hit him. He fell over, and turned his head to look at the back of his legs. Both of his hamstrings had been slashed open, and blood flowed from behind his knees. He was out of this fight.

He looked over at Akamaru. "Why do I get the feeling that were gonna see him again?"

Naruto rolled his falcon yet again, dodging another flurry of senbon. Haku's hawk was not nearly as fast as his own, but it appeared to be far more manueverable.

And durable. He sent yet another swarm of clay birds towards his opponent. Less than one in ten got through, and those that did once again detonated to no effect on the ice hawks stomach and head. Haku wasn't even shaken.

_"Time to get crazy with this." _Naruto aimed the falcon straight into the air and turned entirely around. Haku was on his belly, forced to hold on to his mount with both hands. Naruto's feet, however, were held in place with the same clay that made up his falcon, allowing him to use both hands to maximum effect despite the ridiculous angle they traveled at. He formed as many clay birds as he could and had them all charge head on at Haku.

Haku cursed and veered off, forced to break off his pursuit by the attack. He'd not been expecting Naruto to be able to do anything while perpendicular to the ground, but he had. As he turned back towards his opponent after dispatching the latest swarm of clay explosives, he saw Naruto charging him head on. A collision would be unavoidable unless he did something.

Haku focused on the moisture in the air, and formed an ice spear directly in front of Naruto's bird. It rammed straight through it, and seemed to suddenly disrupt it. Naruto was thrown forwards as his mount dissolved back into clay.

Straight at Haku.

The fake hunter-nin smiled victoriously as he pulled out a senbon. His only warning of what to come was a viscious grin on Naruto's face. He veered sharply to the side, Naruto flying by above and to the left.

It wasn't enough.

"Kazetate!" The violent rotating orb of wind sliced Haku's mount apart where dozens of high explosvives had failed. Those same blades of wind continued straight through, cutting into Haku's left arm deeply, shredding the battle kimono all over his left side and throwing him downwards violently.

Naruto would have laughed as he saw his opponent tumble away. He had taken on an opponent at least as powerful as himself and come out on top, though nearly out of his clay explosives, and he still had chakra to spare. He would have laughed, but the fall that awaited them both was a very, very, very long way. He tried forming the falcon again, but didn't have enough clay left. He thought desperately as he neared the ground. Only one idea presented itself. "Daitopa!" The massive blast of wind struck the (fortunately) sturdy bridge, exerting enormous force on it. And for all the force that was exerted on it, the bridge pushed back. Back at the air, back all the way up the air flow, straight into Naruto. As he kept up the blast of wind, he began to sweat, but he ceased accelerating, and by the time he hit the bridge, it was only a nasty fall, rather than a bone shattering collision. Haku fell off the side into the water, though he soon resurfaced, barely afloat over the water. Naruto looked around the bridge, trying to see who was left.

Sasuke and Kiba were both completely passed out, and though Naruto could see no sign of Kiba's opponent, Sasuke's was laid out on the bridge. Good. Three enemies down. He continued to scan the bridge, looking for Sakura and Hinata, or even Kakashi. He saw Tazuna and decided to ask him. "Hey old man, where are the rest of them?"

Tazuna jumped a little, but quickly looked relieved as he realized it was one of his guards. "The girls and the fellow with the swords are over near the edge of bridge closer to town. And Your sensei and that Zabuza fellow are _under _the bridge, if you can believe it. Fighting right in the framework last I saw them, bouncing off of the suspension. Kakashi looked like he had the upper hand, but I'm no ninja."

Naruto nodded slightly. That's okay, I'm sure he'll be fine. Its Sakura and Hinata I'm worried about." He walked off in the direction Tazuna had indicated, looking for any sign of his teammates.

He found them, soon enough. Sakura was slumped against the side of a crate of supplies, a huge gash in her arm pumping blood at an alarming rate. Hinata appeared to be treating her. Naruto could see no sign of their opponent. Hinata looked up as she saw him approach, and smiled warmly. "Naruto! Your okay! I think we've managed to get rid of that swordsman. Sakura blew an explosive tag up right under his feet, and we haven't seen him since."

A voice seemingly emerged from nowhere. "That's because I didn't want you to see me." An arm reached out from the shadow cast by the box Sakura was leaning on, impaling Hinata on a long, thin katana. It just as quickly withdrew and vanished into the shadows. A man stepped forward from the mist. "You defeated Haku. Very clever of you. I wonder though, did you ever wonder what was going on here? Did you ever bother to do anything other than assume that Zabuza was the strongest one, just because he called us here? I am Geshada of the shadow blade, and I have never known defeat. Come, fight me, and we shall see who is truly strongest here."

But all Naruto could see was the blood quickly staining Hinata's jacket. Her blood. Spilled for no reason. Rage clouded out judgement, reason, and logic. Red blurred across Naruto's vision. He could only see two things clearly. Hinata, and the man who had killed her.

(A/N) Phew! Lots of action, eh? Translation time!

Raitama - Lightning Bullet - Fires high speed projectiles of lightning. Accurate, but not very powerful.

Goukyakyuu - Grand Fire Ball - The user unleashes a blast of fire from their mouth. Powerful, but slow in comparison to many other techniques.

Raiyiri - Lightning Spear - Mid ranged lightning jutsu where user fires a beam of lightning. Powerful at close range, diffuses with distance. Requires a _lot _of chakra.

Daitopa - Great Breakthrough - Powerful wind technique that launches a massive gust of wind ten times more powerful than a hurricane gale. Extreme amounts of chakra required to use.


	9. Conclusive

Conclusive

Geshada watchd the boy in front of him. He had dispatched Haku with something resembling ease, and all of the others of Zabuza's group - except Zabuza himself - were incapacitated, with the possible exception of Fenris. But Fenris served only Fenris, and had no real need for any sort of comeraderie.

The blond's hair had had streaks of red in it before. Now they darkened and widened as his rage took him. His purple eyes grew brighter and brighter, and pure chakra swirled around him, formless, wandering. He looked up at Geshada. There was no more pity. No emotion. No room to hold back. All that was left was battle, true rage. Directed straight at the swordsman.

Geshada could have laughed. The very idea that this boy, no matter how skilled, could hope to defeat him, was utterly ridiculous. He obviously had raw power in spades, but no real talent for using it. "Little Naruto, you are such a fool. You bring all your skills to the table, and waste most of it on a pawn like Haku. Now you are faced with a rook in the great game. What do you do, little boy? What is your next move."

Naruto spoke. His voice seemed to hold almost an echo to it, an imperceptible quality of being _more. _**"Come at it from where it cannot defend itself. The rook only moves in so many ways." **Naruto took off running, his speed easily matching Haku's when switching between his mirrors. He didn't even have enough clay to make another small bird, but he had his hands, he had his feet, and he would use them to kill the one who attacked his comrade.

Geshada ducked the first punch, only to be forced back by a lightning fast kick before he could even swing his sword. "Fast, boy, but that's not enough to kill me. You can't cover all the ways I can escape. The rook is never taken if it is given free movement."

Naruto grinned barbarically. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." **Dozens of Naruto's popped out of thin air, each moving as if in a ballet, swinging the others into the air above Geshada. A dome of Naruto stood around him. **"Daitopa!" **The blast of air struck Geshada head on. It should have crushed his body, scattered him all along the bridge before he crashed into the Wave village at the far end, breaking through houses, propelled by the massive blast of air. It should have done all that.

But Geshada was no longer there. Naruto looked around wildly, and suddenly stiffened. He jumped in the air, avoiding a slash that would have taken off the lower half of his legs. Geshada cursed as he sank back into Naruto's shadow. The boy was too good for a simple trick like that. It was time to get serious.

He reemerged from the shadow of some equipment in front of Naruto. "This is over now, boy." He dropped into a curious stance, swords held pointed directly at Naruto, one above his head, the other extended in front of his body. "Kageken Odori!" His whole body shimmered slightly as his jutsu took effect, but nothing seemed to change. He charged directly at Naruto, dodging another Daitopa. As he closed with Naruto, he swung both blades in an X down at the shorter boy. Naruto dodged to the side, seeming to completely evade the strike.

A spurt of blood shot out from his shin as a long cut appeared. Naruto snarled as it healed in seconds. Geshada came at him again, charging forward, leaving nicks and cuts where he should have hit air every time. Naruto howled in frustration and pain as another slice opened up on his shoulder, mere inches from his neck. The cloak of purple chakra around him seemed to react, molding itself into a more familiar shape. A tail slowly emerged, and Naruto dropped to all fours. **"I don't know how you keep hitting me, but I will kill you Geshada. There is no other way for this to end." **His eyes glowed brilliantly for a moment, and he came even faster than before. Geshada was forced on the defensive very quickly, as he found to his dismay that the chakra enveloping Naruto could stop his swords.

He jumped back, panting after kicking Naruto away. A chakra burn on his foot was his only reward as the boy got up. The red streaks in his hair had expanded even more. _"This isn't going well at all. I hope Zabuza finishes Kakashi soon, because this boy is too strong." _

Kakashi dodged another strike from the massive blade Zabuza wielded as he jumped to a different girder. Suddenly a ferocious presence intruded, and both combatants froze in place. Kakashi turned slowly to Zabuza. "We're out of time, Zabuza. We end this now."

Zabuza cackled as he jumped out onto the water. "As you wish. Kouryuu!" A massive dragon of water shot towards Kakashi, who's single Sharingan blazed brightly as he dodged around it, heading straight for Zabuza and forming hand seals. Suddenly, his hand erupted into lightning and his speed seemed to triple as he sped towards Zabuza. Another shape blurred to intercept, but it was clear that it wouldn't make it.

Until yet another figure erupted from the water. The hunchback Fenris was fully transformed, and even stood erect, massive claws out, roaring a challenge to Kakashi. _"Shit!" _His Chidori, instead of skewering Zabuza and killing him completely, sliced through the wolfman and ended its life after simply drawing a long cut across Zabuza's arm. The arm dropped, useless, but Kakashi was nearly out of chakra.

Haku suddenly stopped speeding towards his master as he saw Fenris take the blow. He smiled. Now Zabuza would have the advantage for sure. He just had to make sure Fenris would survive it.

Fenris slid into the water with a small sigh. He had saved Zabuza. He had ensured victory. For if Zabuza would defeat the Sharingan Kakashi, then nothing could stop them from total victory this day.

Even if he couldn't enjoy it himself.

Blackness creeped into the edges of his vision as he sank through the waters. He saw a shape swimming towards him just before he blacked out.

Kakashi and Zabuza sized each other up, each knowing that the next few minutes would be the last for at least one of them. Neither of their ultimate jutsus had worked, but both were nearly out of chakra. They had just enough to finish each other off once and for all.

The two sprinted forward, clashing off the side of the bridge, as Tazuna and slightly limping Sasuke watched in amazement. They ducked and weaved around each other, not a single blow connecting as they clashed. Suddenly, however, Zabuza got Kakashi's back at last, and kicked visciously, sending the jonin flying forward. Kakashi climbed shakily to his feet, but it was clear Zabuza held the advantage here.

They both looked up, however, as a blast was heard. From farther down the bridge, a shape was violently thrown off the bridge in front of a massive gust of wind. A glowing purple figure followed him onto the sea, landing lightly. Geshada climbed shakily to his feet yet again. He held only a single katana now, his other one having been lost to a similar blast of wind earlier.

Kakashi, not quite as surprised by this turn of events as Zabuza clearly was, capitalized on it with extreme prejudice. A burst of speed and a kunai was all it took to disable Zabuza's arms. Geshada was struggling feebly to deflect another frenzied assault by Naruto, chakra claws finally tearing the katana free and throwing it into the water. Naruto formed several hand seals and placed his hand directly onto Geshada's chest. **"Daitopa." **

The concussive air shot forth at point blank range, slamming into the exhausted swordsman. The effect was devastating, to say the least. Every rib in Geshada's battered body snapped violently inward at the point of release, piercing internal organs. The legendary shadow swordsman fell down, dead in an instant.

"Naruto." The voice cut through Naruto's rage. It was familiar. It was a friend. It was Kakashi. The aura collapsed in on itself, purple fire shrinking into Naruto's body. As the flood of chakra left him, he staggered and began to sink into the water, suddenly exhausted. Kakashi had to stoop to pick him up. He glanced at Zabuza. "Can you still get back up onto the bridge without assistance, or should I kill you?"

Zabuza panted and coughed, trying to move his arms. They didn't work at all. "I can make it. Asshole."

They both jumped up onto the bridge, though Zabuza had to try several times to get up without using his arms. Kakashi walked over to Sakura, who was now being assisted by Kurenai in treating Hinata. Both of their hands were glowing a pale green, and Hinata's wound was slowly closing. Kakashi coughed to get Kurenai's attention. "So where were you while we were all fighting for our lives? And where's everyone else?"

Kurenai snorted. "I was dealing with them." She gestured to a small army of mercenaries gripping their heads. Even as he watched, one ran off the edge of the bridge into the water. "Shino sent me a message bug. Apparently a couple dozen had broken off to go get Tazuna's family, and he was busy dealing with that. As for everyone else, their over there." She gestured negligently towards Tazuna.

Sasuke was immediately apparent, standing with difficulty. He had just finished restraining his massive opponent with a system of knots and ropes that could hold a fifty ton block. Tazuna had helped him a lot in making it.

Kiba was lying on the ground, unconscious, with Akamaru over him. He had lost blood, but not nearly enough to be fatal, and the bleeding had already been stopped. Even his tendons had been repaired.

And slowly crawling up the side of the bridge, was a battered, bleeding, and torn Haku, Fenris on his good shoulder. Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw this. "Zabuza, are you going to tell that boy over there to stand down?"

Zabuza glanced at Haku's state and sighed. "Haku, the fight is over. We've lost. Is Fenris going to survive?"

Haku glanced down at the wolfman. The massive slash through his chest had missed his heard, and only glanced off his lungs, but he had still bled quite a lot. Still, Fenris had amazing regenerative capabilities inborn, just like his transformation. "Possibly. Even probably. But he's definitely out of action for quite a while. Did we lose anyone at all?" As he asked this question he was looking straight at the intricately bound Handon, who was still unconscious.

Zabuza smiled under his mask. "Shockingly enough, we lost Geshada. To the same boy that took you out, actually. He started glowing and ended up being even faster than you by quite a lot. Strong as all hell too. Geshada got a sea burial down under the bridge, so no body for the hunter-nins. And it looks like Gato tried to double cross us anyway, even with the reinforcements we got. The genjutsu witch took her out." He sighed deeply. "It looks like we are in Konoha's hands, and at their mercy Haku."

Kakashi coughed slightly. "Well, there are several possibilities as to how this can play out in the end Momochi. Option number one is the most likely. You come to Konoha with us, and you are all summarily executed as missing-nin, except for Haku, as he isn't a ninja to begin with. He will most likely end up in prison for the rest of his life." Zabuza nodded slowly. "Option two is we let you go right here and now. Forget that we had you like this. Pretend you took your wounded and ran off. Bad for your reputation, but not all that bad in the end." Haku looked deeply interested at this point. But Kakashi wasn't finished. "Option three is the chanciest of all of them. We take you back, we lie through our teeth about how much you helped us in the end, and only ever tell the truth to the Hokage himself. The Hokage grants you pardons for any crimes you committed inside of the Land of Fire, and you become probationary ninjas. Genin level, I'm afraid, but you'd most likely be given promotions of worth for your actions."

Kakashi looked Zabuza straight in the eye. "Zabuza, the last two are the only ones that your most interested in. If you do come back, I'm fairly certain that you'd be given probationary status. But there is always a chance that option one would come around for some, if not all of you if you come back with us. The choice is entirely up to you."

Zabuza looked at Haku, who nodded. Fenris raised his head weakly and laughed. "I say yes, Zabuza. I've had enough of running. And Handon will probably feel the same way."

Naruto let out a groan suddenly, and sat up. He rubbed his head. "What happened? What did I miss?"

Kakashi only looked at him.

Four days later, they arrived at Konoha's gates once again. They had made quite a show of it, having the missing-nin remove their slashed headbands and walking amongst them like they were comrades, and not quasi-prisoners.

The guards, of course, immediately recognized the missing-nin. They were, however, smart enough not to say anything.

The Hokage, however, had no need to keep silent. "What? You seriously expect me to let _four missing-nin _into the ranks of our village and give them status as ninja's?"

"Of course not, Hokage-sama. Only three. The boy Haku never gained official status as a ninja."

That didn't go over very well either.

Kakashi ducked out of the Hokage's office an hour later, looking decidedly nervous. "Okay, you are all now officially part of Konoha." Silence. "You are to form a four man squad. Zabuza has been given the rank of jonin, while the rest of you have all been given the rank of chuunin. Here are your headbands." He placed the four headbands on the table the former missing-nin sat at.

Silence.

"Are you people alive?"

Silence.

Kakashi sighed and left. There really wasn't anything strange about him being ignored by people he'd recently taken captive and basically bullied into a job they didn't want. It was a perfectly normal reaction.

But it still drove him crazy.

Naruto yawned as eh walked back to his apartment. He was a little hungry. He had some food left in the fridge that hadn't spoiled by the time he had left, and half a month shouldn't have done too much damage.

But, though time's wounds cannot be healed, they are rarely the worst.

Naruto's apartment had been trashed. There was no other word. The door hung open, swinging on a single hinge. The three windows on the front side of the building had been smashed to pieces, and graffiti covered the walls. Naruto glared at it before walking inside. It was exactly as he expected it to be, considering how the outside looked.

Everything worth more than half a ryo was gone. Chairs, books, scrolls, weapons, clothes, even most of his furniture was entirely gone. Naruto clenched and unclenched his hands slowly. He'd thought that after being gone for seven years, the idiotic villagers wouldn't presume to simply march into his home and destroy it yet again. He had assumed that not even they would be stupid enough to attack a trained ninja's house, much less one they knew contained a demon.

Never mind a demon-containing, slightly damaged trained ninja who had been apprenticed at the age of five and trained in real combat situations. Naruto narrowed his eyes and looked around. He found what he wanted soon enough. In a small corner, covered in dust, a hatch was covered by a small rug. Though the rug itself had been despoiled, it hadn't been removed. Naruto yanked it off and opened the hidden safe. He smiled when he saw the contents were still intact.

Reaching in, he pulled a tape out of a miniaturized recorder. It was connected to various hidden cameras around his apartment. They were included in every apartment in this complex, something that even the greenest of ninjas would have checked for.

Naruto had an evil grin on his face. He wouldn't be able to do it himself, but once the Hokage got this tape, the council wouldn't be able to just let it slide. It was payback time.

Three weeks passed since the mission in the wave. The vandals had been caught, fined, and Naruto's apartment had been refurbished with the money. He had opted to buy security bars for the windows and a steel fire door.

Teams six and seven were meeting for the first time together in half a month.

Kakashi looked at the six assembled genin, and smiled under his mask. This would be good. "All of you have come much farther along than we had ever predicted. Each of you has mastered every task set before you, and as a team you perform better than could ever be expected. It is for this reason that all of you have been entered in the chuunin selection exams." Each of the genin looked at each other and grinned. "However, there are requirements that we don't currently meet. Each of you belongs to a squad of three, but each squad must contain a kunoichi."

He sighed. "The teams will have to be rearranged." He looked up, expecting an outburst, but got none. A resounding cry of so what seemed to hang in the air, though nothing had been said. "Well... the new team arrangements are as follows."

He pulled out a sheet of paper. "Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata are the new team seven, while Kiba, Shino, and Sakura are the new team eight. These team arrangements are final, and no further changes will be made." He pocketed the paper. "Any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand. "When exactly are the exams?"

Kakashi mentally slapped himself. "Three weeks. You have until then to train, either by yourselves or as a team. We will not be assisting you in any way. Good luck! Oh, and Naruto?"

Naruto stirred. "Yes, sensei?"

"I submitted the altered jutsu under your name, and told them what it did. Congratulations. You've been credited with advancing a jutsu, though it doesn't get renamed, so you aren't credited with creating it." Naruto didn't react. "It comes with a prize of twenty thousand ryo."

Naruto jumped in the air and pumped his arm. "Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

Kakashi eye smiled. _"Little mercenary."_

(A/N) Thats another chapter out. A quick clarification, Fenris' ability is a Kekki Genkai, like the Sharingan. So presumably, he comes from a clan, though Fenris isn't his real name.

Translation:

Kouryuu: Water Dragon

Chidori / Raikiri: One Thousand birds, or as it is nicknamed, the lightning blade


	10. Gathering Storm

Gathering Storm

Sasuke fell panting to the ground for the third time that day. "Damn it Naruto, how do you just keep going?"

But Naruto couldn't respond either. He was still dodging through the obstacle course they had spent hours setting up, dodging kunai, tripwires, pitfalls, and more. Sasuke rose to his feet again as Naruto approached the edge of his sight range. "Gotta catch up again now."

It was day three of training.

Sakura was deep in her studies. Around her could be found, at any time, three scrolls, all open and with notations in the margins. Currently she was reading a scroll of medical jutsus and anatomy while water walking. She quickly flipped off the small stream as her chakra gave out again, sweat pouring from her. "I need to get more chakra still. I'll do this exercise until I drop!"

Kiba found himself, for the fifth or sixth time in an hour, pinned to the wall. This normally wasn't so bad. Normally it meant that he had been caught in a prank, or had gotten a bad grade in the academy.

But this was different. He had _volunteered_ for this_. _

Hana Inuzuka approached him yet again, waving her finger in his face. "Little bro, you've gotta be faster I'm telling you. Inuzuka clan techniques are based around speed and agility, and right now, you don't have enough. So until you get faster, no special techniques for you."

Kiba snorted. "Get me down and let's go again."

"That's the spirit!"

Hinata sparred lightly against her sister for the first time in weeks. She hadn't had to do this since she became a genin. As the fight progressed, however, she realized something was different.

Something was off in the way Hinabi moved. She was never quite where Hinata expected her to be, but she still couldn't manage to touch Hinata.

Then Hinata realized it.

She had surpassed her younger sister. She was so _use _to her sibling being faster and sharper than her, she was actually missing because of it. Hinata smiled grimly at her opponent as they broke contact again. All she had to do was win one spar like this, and maybe she wouldn't have to do all her learning out of scrolls any more. She could finally get her father to notice her again.

The next week and a half followed much the same routine, day after day, endless training cycled by. But with just over a week left before the chuunin exams, the first incidents occurred.

Naruto had been walking home along a deserted street, before sensing someone behind him. But when he looked, there was no one there, and no sign of genjutsu. The same thing happened for another two days. But then more important things emerged.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata walked to meet up with their senseis for the first time in over two weeks. "Six days before the exams, eh Hinata? How's your training going?"

She had a small smile on her face as she thought about her father watching her dominate a fifteen minute fight between her and her sister, before she finally ended it. "Oh, not too bad."

A sudden cry attracted all of their attention to a side street. Naruto sighed. "I'll handle this one. You guys want to go tell Kakashi-sensei why I'm late?"

Sasuke snorted. "I've gotta see this."

Hinata smirked a little. "I haven't seen you terrorize anyone before yet, Naruto. Now is as good a time as any."

Naruto had a vicious grin on his face. This would be fun.

Konohamaru Sarutobi, grandson of the Sandaime Hokage, was petrified. He had been running through the streets with his friends when he had bumped into the weirdo in the black jumpsuit. He was currently being held by said weirdo about five feet off the ground.

A blond with a large fan sighed. "Kankuro, we didn't come here to start off any incidents. You know how Gaara will feel about that."

Kankuro snorted. "Temari, please. He doesn't like anything. He can deal with one more thing." He barely saw the red and gold blur that shot towards him. Dropping Konohamaru, he flipped back and landed next to his sister, waiting for the next attack.

What he saw instead, was a fairly enraged Naruto. "Attacking children, are we? Is that all that Suna-nin do these days? Accost the Hokage's family?"

Kankuro refused to be shocked by his feral appearance. Temari, however, was openly gaping at him. Before he could say anything though, a quiet voice came from above them. "They apologize politely."

Naruto looked up, and heard the Kyuubi curse quietly in his mind. _**"Gaki, that's the host of Shukaku, the mad Ichibi. Watch him. His hosts tend to be extremely unstable."**_

Gaara hopped down to the ground. "My siblings are tired and irritable from the journey. I can personally assure you that something like this will not happen again."

Naruto's faint smile quickly alerted his teammates, who moved forward to support him if need be. "From just him, or from all of you? Because that polite act is total bull shit and we both know it."

A mad grin split the redhead's face. "I'm going to enjoy killing you." He turned and walked away, his siblings rushing to keep up.

Hinata went up to Naruto's side. "Who exactly was that?"

Naruto stared after the retreating forms of the Suna-nin's. "Those are the Sabaku siblings. The one in black was Kankuro, the one with the fan Temari, and the red head was Gaara. All of them have a fair reputation, but Gaara's is... fairly monstrous." Considering that he himself had killed several bandits on missions, not to mention that he had practically _executed _Geshada, that was saying something.

Sasuke looked even more grim than usual. "Why would they let an insane shinobi into something as diplomatically important as the chuunin exams?"

The blond ninja responded slowly. "I'm not entirely sure. But the best I can figure is that Suna is planning something. Come on. We need to talk to Kakashi."

As they walked off, however, laughter split the air. "Oh this is just great. Three of the six who tamed Zabuza, and they don't already know what's going on? You people are getting behind the times." Naruto looked up in annoyance, only to double take at the shocking appearance of the speaker.

He stood perhaps five feet tall at the most, a bit shorter than Naruto. His skin was extremely pale, far paler than any normal person's color should be. His hair was bleach white, and fell close to his shoulders in a smooth wave. Two red dots stood above either eye, and an amused grin danced around his face. His dark eyes glinted with mischief, and he wore an Ame headband on his belt, which held a black kimono shut. He appeared to carry no weaponry.

Even as he spoke, two other Ame ninjas emerged. One seemed to be covered in a rippling, swirling tattoo that left only his face bare, and the other one reminded Naruto of Kiba for a moment... until he saw that the animal on _her _head was a cat. Both wore kimonos just like the pale boy's.

Sasuke looked at the three ninjas on the roof. "Who are you people?"

All three Ame ninjas jumped off the roof and landed lightly in front of them. The pale boy spoke again. "I am Kaile Katsuya, of the Katsuya clan. This is Nekata, clanless, and Toshiba, also clanless. I must assume that you three are Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Hyuuga?"

Hinata answered for them. "You would assume correctly."

"Then it is only polite to warn you. If you keep going after the Sabaku's like that, your going to end up dead."

Naruto cut in quickly at that point. "Thanks for the warning, and we'll keep it in mind. But right now, we really do have to talk to Kakashi-sensei."

Kaile swept an overdone bow. "Then let us delay you no further, oh tamer of Zabuza!"

"Kakashi-sensei."

The voice was low, urgent, and had the air of someone who needed to say something that mattered. Plus it was his student. With that in mind, Kakashi decided to answer. "Yes Naruto?"

"I've been noticing some of the foreign contestants for the chuunin exams. A couple of them seem off." He paused. "Most notable, the Suna team, the Ame team, and the Oto team. All of them appear to be stronger than I would expect, and I thought relations with Oto were very negative right now. But my main concern is Gaara no Sabaku. He's completely insane."

Kakashi looked over his team. All three of them wore expressions of concern on their faces. "Big things are happening team. Oto and Suna's intentions are unknown as of yet, but we plan on finding them out soon enough. Ame, however, I can assure you is on our side." He paused for a moment. "Well, that is, the Hokage assures me they are. Regardless, what really matters is that as many of you come _out _of the exam as go _in. _To that matter, I suggest that when the teams split up, you find team eight as fast as you can." He picked up his orange book and began reading again. "That's all I'm going to tell you."

They started to walk out, but Kakashi's voice stopped them. "Actually there is one more thing. I almost forgot."

"What is it sensei?" Hinata asked.

Kakashi looked at them gravely. "Both team seven and eight have been tasked with the mission to ensure that the teams from Oto do _not, _under any circumstance, make it out of the second part of the test. Deadly force is encouraged, but if you could disable them and hide them out of sight, that works too."

Naruto looked him straight in his visible eye. "So this would be an assassination mission. Against Oto." It was clearly not a question.

"Exactly. You'd best be ready for them."

Naruto turned to his teammates after they left. "Sasuke, what is the first deterrent for an attacking shinobi?"

Sasuke leaned back and thought. Naruto didn't normally do this unless he was going some where. "Clear evidence that your stronger than them. Problem is, everyone in the chuunin exams is in our year or senior, so we can't do the mysterious seniority thing, and were all the same rank. Those are the first two main signs that people look for."

Naruto's grin was just evil. "And whats the third?"

Realization hit Sasuke like a Raiton jutsu. "Appearance."

His grin matched Naruto's. "C'mon Hinata, let's go shopping. We've got two days to make sure they will be terrified of us."

Only one store in Konoha held everything they needed. Only one store could supply decent armored clothes fit for shinobi, kunoichi, and intimidation at affordable prices. And it was a hole in the wall.

Sasuke stared at the battered, ratty little shop. "Naruto, are you sure this is the right place?"

Naruto strode forward through the door. "This front is just a facade. They got sick of civilians coming in and ooing and awing over the shinobi gear. They're still one of the best shops in Konoha. Hey, Mikoto! Its me."

An old man as battered as his shop came out of the back. He had only one arm, and a big grin on his face. "Ah, Naruto, how have you been? And who are your friends? I just got in a new shipment of weapons. There's something in there that I think you'll find _quite _interesting."

Naruto laid a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe in a bit. Chuunin exams are in a few days, and we realized that we don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of everyone who gazed upon us. I thought that if anyone could fix that the right way, it would be you."

Mikoto stared at him levelly. "That just got you five percent off. Let's go."

They spent the better part of the next hour looking at the clothes before they were finally finished. Hinata found her preferred outfit the quickest, locating a lightly armored silk kimono. It was dark black, and as Mikoto demonstrated, could blend in to any sort of dim setting. A matching set of pants and a white blindfold completed the outfit. Naruto wondered at the blindfold, until he remembered that the Byakugan could see through pretty much anything.

Sasuke took one look at the outfit and immediately walked up to Naruto. "I just had an idea."

Naruto glanced at him as he dug through another rack. "What's that?"

Sasuke clicked his teeth lightly in annoyance. He could've at least looked at him. "I was thinking that maybe we should all stick to the same color scheme, at least. Look like were part of a team and all that."

"And what gave you that idea?"

"Hinata's outfit. Its just plain black, with a personal touch in the blindfold. We both get matching plain black outfits, and add personal touches. Sound good?"

Naruto stopped looking through the rack. "That is actually a really good idea. Let's go."

In the end they decided on plain black gi's which could be modified easily. They had light armoring on both the front and back. Naruto also got a long black cloth, which he used to replace the blue cloth that came with his headband. It left extended black ties hanging off the ends, but they added a rather dramatic effect.

As they went to check out, Mikoto stopped them. "Ah, Naruto, you still haven't looked at that item I wanted to show you." He glanced at Naruto's teammates. Hinata had rolled her eyes slightly, and Sasuke was glaring at him. "Bring your friends too. I think I have something interesting for them too."

Sasuke sighed as they followed Mikoto to the back of store. Naruto quickly spoke before he could. "Sasuke, whenever Mikoto has had something of interest, it is _always _something that you'll regret not buying later. Trust me on this."

The storekeeper rummaged through several boxes before coming up again, slightly dusty. "Hard as hell to manage with one arm. Hinata, wasn't it? I think you'll like this." He bent and picked up a small book. Hinata picked it up carefully and blew dust off of its cover. It was a book of advanced chakra techniques.

"Gomen, Mikoto-san. This book will be very useful." The old man winked.

"Ah, I've been doing inventory ever since I found out who my young friend here had on his team. Found stuff for all six of you, actually. Tell the others to stop by soon." He rummaged through the box again, and pulled out another book and handed it to Sasuke. "That one is on using multiple elements in tandem. I found out that you had two affinities that don't mix, so you might find it useful." He pulled out one last book and handed it to Naruto. "And _that _one is a rare find. Fuinjutsu, if you'd believe it. Something you might find interesting, and damned handy. But that's not all."

He walked deeper into the back of the store until he came to a small cupboard. "I've been saving these for a long time. It'll be good to finally get them out of my store though. People just can't keep their hands off of 'em." He pulled out two long, thin shapes wrapped in layer upon layer of cloth. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Mikoto, surely those aren't-" But he was cut off.

"They sure as hell are, sonny. This one's for you." He shoved the one wrapped in red cloth into Naruto's hands. "And this one is for you." He tossed the blue wrapped one into Sasuke's waiting hand. "And your total is fifteen thousand ryo."

Normally, that would have been an unreachable sum, but Naruto had received more than that for his modified Kazetate, and managed to pay it all, though he looked rather depressed about it.

As they walked out of the store Sasuke turned to him. "What are these?" He asked, hefting the blue wrapped package in his hand.

Naruto sighed and looked at its red counterpart. "These are two legendary katanas that Mikoto came into. He captured the first - yours - in the same battle he lost his arm. He found mine about ten years ago." He looked towards the clear sky. "Your's is named Mikaze, while mine is called Kitsune Bi. The Devil Storm and Fox Fyre." He looked at Sasuke. "The curious thing is, even though none of the stories that they have been in include each other, they wield opposite powers. I suggest you get used to it. No one has ever wielded it that has put it aside for another weapon."

Sasuke stopped for a moment, looking at his sword. "So what's your sword's story?"

Naruto smiled. "This is the main reason I don't believe in coincidence anymore. This shit cannot be made up."

"So what's the story?"

"I'm dead serious. Absolutely nothing but reality could be this weird."

"What. Is. The story."

"So impatient. It is supposedly the blade of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Sasuke and Hinata were stopped dead in their tracks, and had to hurry to catch up to their teammate. Hinata spoke first. "That cannot be coincidence."

Naruto smiled at her. "Absolutely right it can't be. Mikoto found it outside of Konoha. I'm guessing it was where the Yondaime himself fought it, the only sign left of that battle. And to think that it pretty much ended up where it started in the first place."

Hinata smiled a bit at the irony of it all. "So what do we do for the next two days?"

Naruto frowned. "Well, we've scoped out what I _expect _will be the main competition. But it never hurts to cover all your bases. Tomorrow were going to spend checking out all of the other teams, and we meet again at the chuunin exams themselves. Agreed?"

Hinata and Sasuke nodded. "Hai," they chorused.

Three ninjas went their separate ways, splitting off to go see who they would have to defeat. And one silver-haired ninja observed it all in silence, slowly pushing his glasses up his face.

"This... will be interesting."

(A/N) Well, I've finished setting up for the chuunin exams completely. Next chapter the fun begins!

Translations:

Fuinjutsu - Art of Sealing - Set of jutsus that revolves around inked seals and kanji to do various things, from exploding tags to storing objects in scrolls.

Mikaze - literally: Storm brought on by the devil - Demon Storm - A legendary blade said to control thunder and water.

Kitsune Bi- Fox Fire - A legendary blade said to control wind and flame.


	11. Chuunin Exam: Hell in a Handbasket

Chuunin Exams: Hell in a Hand Basket

Team seven was ready. As ready as humanly possible. They had done everything perfectly according to plan so far. They had trained tirelessly for this moment, pushing themselves to the limit each and every day. They had planned attack strategies, scouted out other ninjas in the village, even bought new equipment. That didn't stop them from sweating a little to themselves.

As soon as they met to go into the exams, however, that was over. They put on their game faces and made their entrance.

Hinata walked in in her new battle kimono, a white blindfold wrapped over her eyes. That flimsy piece of cloth would do nothing to block her vision, but no one really knew that. Her headband still dangled around her neck like a piece of jewelry.

To her left was Naruto. His spiky ponytail hung out behind him, streaks of red accentuating his feral features. His black gi had been accentuated with the same gold stitched fox on the back and red swirls on each shoulder. Kitsune Bi hung on his waist, attracting several whispers. Sword wielders were fairly rare in genin. His headband was now attached to the extended cloth pieces, which hung down. He looked dangerous like someone who had power in spades, and walked like it too.

Sasuke stood on Hinata's right. His own gi had stayed basically plain black, though he had added the Uchiha crest on his back and shoulders. Mikaze hung laizily on his hip, swinging slightly with each step. The sword attracted less attention than the clan crest, however. There wasn't anyone there from any nation that hadn't heard of the Uchiha clan's strength. He walked with the smug arrogance of someone who had already won.

As they began walking to the room they had been told, they saw a group of genin struggling to get into the wrong room. Naruto frowned, and looked at the sign, sighing slightly. A minor genjutsu had been placed on it, changing the room numbers. Amateurish. On top of that, the two 'genin' barring entrance to the room held themselves differently from the genin trying to get in. They were out of place, not real genin if he had ever seen them. Still, this would be the perfect time for their planned display. He made a subtle gesture to Sasuke.

The Uchiha called loudly over the angry crowd. "What are you idiots doing? If you can't see through an illusion that simple, you don't deserve to be in this exam." The crowd went dead silent as team seven strode through them to the two blocking the door. "And you two are going to be late for the exam distracting these morons."

The taller of the two sneered down his nose at the Uchiha. "Oh, a big tough genin, are you? Putting all us inferiors in our places? Since you ruined our fun, I think its only fair I ruin yours." He blurred suddenly, rushing at Sasuke faster than most genin could track.

Team seven was not made of 'most genin,' however. Sasuke grabbed the fake genin's kick in midair, holding him for a moment before jumping back. Naruto darted in and slammed a punch too fast for _anyone _but Sasuke, Hinata, and team eight to track. His taller opponent flew into his companion, and both smashed through the door. As they did, the illusion over the sign dissipated. The crowd slowly dispersed, giving team seven a wide berth. Naruto saw Kiba give him a thumbs up and smiled at him.

As they continued towards the real examinations room, however, they were interrupted yet again, this time by a spandex wearing genin. "Rock Lee, I presume?" Naruto's question appeared to shake their green visitor.

It only took him a moment to recover. "I see you have prepared well for this occasion. I desire a fight with Sasuke Uchiha!"

Naruto groaned inwardly. They had learned a lot about the other Konoha teams during their preparation time, and if Lee didn't get this fight, he was liable to hunt them down at the first opportunity and keep pestering them. He would never attack them without warning, however. Naruto decided it was time to stop the obsession with his teammate, however. "If you really want to fight Sasuke, here, You have to beat me first."

Sasuke smirked. This would be quick, no matter how fast Lee was, he wasn't fast enough for Naruto. Hinata stepped back slightly.

Lee smiled. "I will have to hurry then, you understand. It is a matter of importance I prove something." He blurred towards Naruto at high speed, far faster than he could move.

But he didn't have to move that fast to beat Lee. He only had to track it, and he could do that easily. He dodged a powerful kick that could have decapitated him if it connected and grabbed Lee's outstretched leg, swinging him off the floor and into the air.

Lee's expression of surprise was priceless as Naruto shot into the air after him. "All that speed is great on the ground, but up here there is only physics. Daitoppa!" The blast of air slammed Lee into the far wall, leaving a sizable crack in it. Lee slid to the ground, but soon got up.

"You held back on that blow." He accused.

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't want to kill you. Your not a bad guy, just a little arrogant, even if you'll never admit it to anyone."

Lee looked at him, jaw hanging open. No one had ever accused him of arrogance before. Naruto leaned down and looked him in the eye.

"Think about this, Lee. You challenged a member of the Uchiha clan to a taijutsu spar, to prove to yourself that you could overcome anything. Yet when I stepped in, you dismissed me completely because I wasn't an Uchiha, and you hadn't heard about me. Yet that is exactly what you are too. Despite your taijutsu skills, you are unrecognized. Unseen besides your teammate." Naruto stood erect. "Just think about that for a bit. And if you really want to overcome _anything, _you should try learning some jutsu." And with that, team seven left a stunned and battered Lee.

They strode into the examination room at a sedate pace, ambling in like they owned the place. Naruto quickly scanned the room to see if he could identify any threats they hadn't tagged already. The crazy Oto team, the wierdos from Ame, the Sabaku siblings from Suna... all expected. What wasn't expected was the Kuso team. Naruto examined them closely. Two looked like normal genin, but the one in the center with the weird rope around his waist looked... predatory. He viewed the room like he was picking out which genin would make the best meal. His eyes locked briefly with Naruto, and Naruto quickly broke eye contact. No need to draw too much more attention to themselves.

"SASUKE-KUN!" There goes that plan. Naruto groaned inwardly as a flash of blond passed by his vision and slammed into Sasuke, who barely remained upright.

Ino Yamanaka. Quite possibly the single most obsessed Sasuke fangirl in the village, even more so than Sakura had been before she focused on training, and a member of team ten under Asuma Sarutobi. Naruto didn't know too much about that team's skills, but wasn't too worried about it. He had spied on thier practice session for an hour, and all they did was sit around. Ino talked, Shikamaru looked at clouds, and Choji ate. Not a very dangerous bunch, in his estimation.

Sakura glared daggers into her rivals back. "Ino-pig. Good to see your still as hyperactive and useless as ever." That threw Ino off for a beat. Normally when she did this, Sakura freaked out, quickly descending to her level, and was butchered. Still, being Ino, she couldn't be put off for long.

"Well forehead, you're one to talk. At least I have talent as a ninja, unlike you." She stuck out her tongue and walked back to her team.

Someone snorted behind them. Naruto turned to see one of the older genin he didn't know. "Sorry, and you are?" Naruto began.

The silver-haired genin smiled from behind his glasses. "Kabuto Yakushi. I saw your spar with Rock Lee. He's a tough nut, but you took him down just fine. I thought you might like to look at these." He pulled out a small deck of blank cards. "Nin-info cards. I can inject my chakra into them and reveal information on any shinobi. Missions completed, skills, anything really. As long as its been seen by more than a few people, I know about it." He pushed up his glasses. "So, who's on your list?"

Naruto considered pulling out the actual list and giving it to him, but that would be too much trouble. "Just for kicks, let's see how current your information is. Naruto Uzumaki."

Kabuto grinned slightly and pulled out the correct card. "Naruto Uzumaki, age twelve, rank genin. Credited with one a rank and two c ranks." He eyed Naruto again. "Became a genin less than a month ago after a seven year training trip with Deidara, a former Iwa-nin who defected to Konoha. Credited with enhancing the Kazetate no jutsu, has mastered Kage Bunshin and can use Daitoppa with no hand seals. Uses exploding clay as main weapon, but still uses other ninja tools. High tai and ninjutsu, as well as ridiculous stamina, decent weapons, but terrible at genjutsu." He put the card away. "That all correct?"

Naruto grinned. "Absolutely. Not everything I had hoped for, but better than I expected. You'll want to rewrite that after the exams are over, I'm sure. Now, on to business." He thought for a second. "Let's start with Gaara no Sabaku. We know he is disturbed, extremely dangerous, and a chronic insomniac. That's it." He stared at Kabuto's cards. "Can those tell us any more?"

"Hmm..." Kabuto pulled out the card in question. "The lack of information tells me something immediately. From what I have here, he has been credited with four A-ranks, six B-ranks, twenty C-ranks, and over a hundred D-ranks. Yet no one has specific information on his skills. Oh... that's not good." He paused. "Gaara is credited with over ninety confirmed kills. Odd, because the only real information I have on him says that he has zero taijutsu skills and is slow as anything. But that would explain the lack of information. Dead men truly tell no tales." Kabuto looked around nervously. Several other ninjas had noticed what he was doing. "One more card. That's it."

Naruto glanced around as well, seeing why Kabuto was so desperate to wrap this up. "Ok then. One more question. Any of the genin team from Oto."

Kabuto began to shuffle through his deck, only to suddenly flip back as a hand with a strange gauntlet attached smashed through where his head would have been. He landed soundly five feet away. A bandage wrapped genin with a musical note on his headband stood there. "You will give no information on us, Konoha ninja. But you should put this in your precious card." He stood tall, though with his hunched back he barely came up to five feet. "The Oto ninjas will all be making chuunin this year."

Naruto had to repress a chuckle. If this one was any example, they were _slow. _Their mission was looking easier and easier.

Then Kabuto bent over and threw up. With a crack his glasses broke. Naruto stared. The Oto genin's strike had clearly missed, that much was obvious. Whatever his attack was, it bypassed normal in so many ways. Two other Konoha ninjas moved up to help Kabuto, and the two teams began a standoff. One wrong move could start an open brawl.

A blast of smoke in the front of the room dispelled the tension as a scarred man wearinga black skull cap appeared at the front of the room, along with a dozen or so jonin and chuunin. All were glaring at the fighting genin. "This foolishness will stop immediately and you will take your seats. The first stage of the chuunin exam is about to begin. I am Ibiki Morini, your proctor."

The genin backed down and moved to their seats quietly. "The first part of this years examination is a paper test. You will have one hour to complete ten questions. Each person begins with ten points. For each question you get wrong, you lose a point, and every time we catch you cheating, you lose two points." He grinned. "And if anyone loses all of their points, that team fails. No questions. You will recieve your papers shortly." He began passing out papers to everyone. This would be fun.

As soon as he finished he walked to the front of the room again. "Begin now." A timer beeped as he hit the button. The ticking digital numbers would make them believe they had less time than they really did.

Naruto stared at the paper in front of him. _"What the hell kind of questions are these? Decoding a cipher with no references? Trajectory of shuriken? Not many chuunin could answer more than one or two of these depending on their specialties." _He looked around the room again. _"Their specialties..."_

He realized it then. Between all the genin the class, there were distinctly three types of ninja. Those, like him, who knew none of the answers, those who knew all of them, and those that knew one or two. He had to get all the answers without being caught. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what he had that could gather information. He saw Hinata's Byakugan activate, saw Shino talking quietly to a bug. Sasuke's two tomoed Sharingan burned crimson. The Oto ninjas were simply listening to how the pencils scratched paper.

He finally thought of a plan. He put his hands under his desk and took off his gloves.

He concentrated, turning out the smallest clay bugs he could. No more than the size of ants, seventy or eighty clay bugs crawled from under his desk, one at a time, to places he had marked out would blind the proctors the best. He only needed seconds.

He whispered under his breath, so quietly no one could hear, and formed a handseal under his desk. "Katsu."

Fist sized explosions ripped around the room. Every single proctor jumped back from the bright lights, covering their eyes, even Ibiki. He quickly formed several handseals, still whispering under his breath. The subtle genjutsu he cast on his desk wouldn't have fooled any of the chuunin, but they weren't a problem now. It covered the Kage Bunshin he made under the desk long enough for it to Henge into a fly. Once the chaos subsided, Ibiki glared around the room. He glared directly at Naruto, and Naruto grinned impishly at him. After all, based on the rules, Ibiki could subtract, at most, four points, and he probably hadn't seen the Bunshin until it was too late.

A fly landed on Shino's paper. Shino looked at it curiously. He had never seen one quite like it. He looked down to inspect it and discovered it only had four legs. Even more intrigued, he saw a strange pattern on its back. Symbols, it seemed, as though carved in. He sent one of his own bugs to read it.

The message was simple.

_"Shino, this is a Henged Bunshin. Give it a few minutes to copy your answers and destroy it."_

_-Naruto_

Shino almost grinned. Naruto always had a plan, and after a display like that, he had wondered what his teammate had in mind. After a few moments, the fly stopped crawling around the paper and crawled into Shino's hand. He nodded gravely at it, and crushed it in his hand. The small puff of smoke it emitted couldn't be seen by anyone in the rooms.

Naruto winced slightly as the memory of being crushed hit him, but smiled again as the answers came. He quickly wrote down answers one through nine, and stared at question ten. This would be... interesting.

Several teams who had not been cheating very well were disqualified.

As they closed on the forty five minute mark, only fourteen teams remained. Ibiki had been ruthless, him and his proctors cutting through ranks of would-be cheaters with applied psychology and observation. He cleared his throat, and the class snapped to attention. "Now, I will tell you the tenth question."

He droned on for a bit about it, but Naruto mostly tuned him out. He was going to keep going no matter what. He had a mission to accomplish. Several teams got up and left of their own accord. Perhaps eleven remained. Ibiki looked around the room. "Anyone else want out?" No one moved. "You all... Pass!"

Naruto snorted. Ibiki was just playing mind games. Typical of a torture and interrigation specialist, he supposed, but still. Boring.

He quickly snapped back to attention as Ibiki was interrupted by a figure crashing through the window beside him. Two kunai embedded into the walls, pinning up a large banner as a black haired kunoichi rolled to her feet. It read Anko Mitarashi, Second Exam Proctor. Naruto snorted. A sadistic shrink followed by a show off. So far, this was the most dissapointing thing he'd been through.

"My name is Anko Mitarashi, and you, maggots, are _mine _for the next three days. Follow me to training ground fourty eight immediately. Anyone who arrives more than thirty seconds after me is disqualified instantly. Now MOVE!"

(A/N) Next chap is forest of death. Signing out.


End file.
